Two Korean doctors under the suspicion of MERS broke protocol over the weekend by travelling to the Philippines over the weekend.

On June 8th, various news media agencies reported that a Korean couple, both of which are doctors, were under self-quarantine after treating a patient with MERS. Both doctors are heads of their own clinics in the North Jeolla Province and have seen a 72 year-old woman who visited their clinics for a sore back, eventually suffering from a high fever. The patient was confirmed positive by Sunday but the doctors did not receive the notice as they have left the country despite knowing prior to their departure that should be under self-quarantine for a possible MERS contagion.

However, the male doctor defended his exception from a self-quarantine as he showed no symptoms while the wife had to be put under strict isolation after it was found that she directly treated the MERS-infected women. Both doctors expressed their disagreement on the protocol and defended that they have no symptoms and there is a small chance of a MERS infection.

MERS took its 7th victim in South Korea as more than 2,500 people have been placed on quarantine with more than 1,800 schools closed.

Source: Xinhuanet