MERS death toll reaches 16 among 150 confirmed South Korea outbreak victims

Two more patients with the MERS virus have died, South Korea’s health ministry has announced.

In addition, five new cases have been confirmed, bringing the official total to 150 patients.

The two latest fatalities, confirmed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Monday, bring the total number of MERS-related deaths to 16, Yonhap news agency reported.

In one of the latest deaths, a 62-year-old man died in the city of Busan. He had contracted the decease after visiting the Samsung Medical Centre in Seoul, where more than 70 people are now being treated with the virus. He was diagnosed on June 7.

The hospital has placed some 400 patients, families and medical staff under quarantine. As of Sunday, at least 4,856 people possibly exposed to the MERS virus were under observation nationwide.