Panic over the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak in South Korea appeared to be waning, analysts said Sunday, as the country saw a sharp slowdown in trip cancellations by foreigners and increased corporate efforts to get back to “business as usual.”
South Korea reported three more MERS cases on Sunday, bringing the total number of infections to 169. But the daily number of new cases remained in the low single-digit range for several days in a row. There was no additional death from MERS, with the total death toll remaining at 25.
The number of people in isolation for suspected infections also dropped to 4,035 from 5,197 the previous day. Seven more people were discharged from the hospital after complete recoveries, raising the number of recovered patients to 43.
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| (Yonhap) |
In one of the latest signs of the MERS scare on the wane, growth in foreigners’ cancellations of trips to South Korea slowed sharply last week, according to data by the state-run Korea Tourism Organization.
A total of 1,760 foreigners canceled their trips to South Korea on Friday, up a mere 1.43 percent from the previous day. The number of trip cancellations by foreign tourists fell from 4,470 Tuesday to 3,710 Wednesday and to 1,879 a day later.
Between June 1, when the first MERS death was reported here, and Thursday, 123,390 foreigners canceled their trips to South Korea, with people from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong taking up the bulk, or 92,975, according to the data.
Concerns over MERS are especially high among the Chinese after a South Korean man who tested positive for the virus flew to Hong Kong on May 26 and subsequently went to southern China, which was widely reported in local media, according to experts.
Hit hard by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003, the Chinese are more cautious over the development of the contagious disease in South Korea.
The Chinese are South Korea’s biggest tourist group, with the number of travelers from the nation surpassing 6 million for the first time in 2014.
The MERS outbreak has dealt a harsh blow to the local tourism and retail industries, which have been scrambling to attract more Chinese travelers this year amid tepid domestic consumption.
Industry sources, meanwhile, said Sunday the local business community is going all-out to tide over the fallout of the MERS outbreak on Asia’s fourth-largest economy struggling with flaccid consumer spending and sagging exports.
The Federation of Korean Industries, the country’s largest business lobby group, has urged its member companies to go ahead with their key events and operations as planned, as MERS-related panic has been excessive, leading to sharper than expected damage to business activities.
“Amid a protracted slump in the global economy and domestic demand, the local economy could be hit hard by MERS,” said Lim Sang-hyuck, a senior official at the FKI.
The FKI has decided to go ahead with its key committee meetings slated this week in a show of its strong will to overcome MERS-related fears spreading in the local business community.
Local companies are also chiming in by pushing ahead with product-launching events as scheduled. Hyundai Motor Co., the country’s No. 1 automaker, and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. are planning to organize events next month for their release of new car models.
The country’s airlines, hit by massive trip cancellations, are also ramping up their efforts.
Both Korean Air Lines Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc., the country’s two largest full-service carriers, had reported a sharp drop in passenger traffic, announcing plans to reduce flights to China.
But Asiana Airlines has decided to launch its Incheon-Rome route on June 30 as scheduled, and Korean Air has announced a deal to purchase 100 new passenger jets, which will cost the airline some $12.23 billion won, the largest purchase deal recorded in airline history here.
“What’s most important is to regain psychological stability,” said the FKI official. “We also hope that the government will take measures such as tax cuts, in order to boost private spending.” (Yonhap)
