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Jail time for breaking MERS quarantine |
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jacksdad
Executive Admin Joined: September 08 2007 Location: San Diego Status: Offline Points: 47251 |
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Posted: June 27 2015 at 2:24am |
TIME World Disease South Korea Authorizes Prison Time for MERS Patients Who Break QuarantineThe country is in the midst of the worst outbreak ever seen outside of Saudi ArabiaSouth Korea tightened quarantine restrictions on patients at risk of being infected with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus, declaring that those who defy orders or lie about their potential exposure are now subject to prison terms. Health officials announced that violators could face up to two years in prison and a fine of 20 million won, or approximately $18,000. Currently, defying quarantine can result in a fine but not a jail sentence. The new law, which grants greater authority to public health
investigators, does not take effect for another six months. The latest
tally for the disease reached 181 confirmed cases and 31 confirmed
deaths since the outbreak began last month. |
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"Buy it cheap. Stack it deep"
"Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal government will come to the rescue, will be tragically wrong." Michael Leavitt, HHS Secretary. |
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jacksdad
Executive Admin Joined: September 08 2007 Location: San Diego Status: Offline Points: 47251 |
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"The new law, which grants greater authority to public health
investigators, does not take effect for another six months"
|
|
"Buy it cheap. Stack it deep"
"Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal government will come to the rescue, will be tragically wrong." Michael Leavitt, HHS Secretary. |
|
jacksdad
Executive Admin Joined: September 08 2007 Location: San Diego Status: Offline Points: 47251 |
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Asia PacificAfter MERS, South Korea Authorizes Prison for Quarantine ScofflawsSEOUL, South Korea — Stung by the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome, South Korea has passed a law authorizing prison terms of up to two years for people who defy quarantine orders or lie about their possible exposure to an infectious disease. South Korea has had 181 confirmed cases of the disease known as MERS, including 31 deaths. The outbreak, which began last month, is the worst seen outside Saudi Arabia, where the disease was first identified. The spread of MERS here has been attributed mainly to poor infection control at the country’s hospitals, as well as failures of communication and coordination on the government’s part. But the public has also been angered by reports of people flouting orders to stay home while they were being monitored for symptoms. One such person went golfing; another went to China, where he was detained and later tested positive for MERS. Under current law, such defiance can result in a fine but not imprisonment. South Korea’s first MERS patient, a 68-year-old man who had traveled to the Middle East, did not initially reveal the full details of his itinerary to doctors, depriving them of a clue that he had the syndrome. He infected dozens of people in three hospitals before being confirmed as a MERS case on May 20, at the fourth hospital he visited. The new law requires the health authorities to make public certain information about an outbreak of infectious disease, including the names and locations of infected hospitals and the routes taken by exposed patients. The government was criticized for waiting weeks to reveal the names of the hospitals where MERS infections had been reported. The
law also requires police officers, firefighters and other public
servants to help public health investigators enforce quarantine orders. |
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"Buy it cheap. Stack it deep"
"Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal government will come to the rescue, will be tragically wrong." Michael Leavitt, HHS Secretary. |
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