South Korea Authorizes Prison Time for MERS Patients Who Break Quarantine

The country is in the midst of the worst outbreak ever seen outside of Saudi Arabia

South Korea http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/27/world/asia/after-mers-south-korea-authorizes-prison-for-quarantine-scofflaws.html - 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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Wearing protective masks in Seoul, South Korea. There have been 181 confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome in the country and 31 deaths. Credit Ed Jones/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

SEOUL, South Korea — Stung by the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome, http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/southkorea/index.html?inline=nyt-geo - 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.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/southkorea/index.html?inline=nyt-geo - 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 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/18/world/asia/south-korean-hospital-scrutinized-in-mers-outbreak.html - the country’s hospitals , as well as failures of communication and coordination http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/14/world/asia/experts-fault-south-korean-response-to-mers-outbreak.html - 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. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/world/asia/mers-viruss-path-one-man-many-south-korean-hospitals.html - 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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