EARLY EDITION 18:00 Korea declares de facto end to MERS outbreak

ARIRANG NEWS 18:00 Title: Korea declares de facto end to MERS outbreak Our top story this afternoon... Nearly ten weeks after the first case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome was reported in Korea,... the government has declared the de facto end to the outbreak. For more on how officials say we can breathe a little easier now,... Han Da-eun reports. "All 15 hospitals affected by the MERS outbreak have been released from special watch. On top of this,.. no new cases have been confirmed for 23 straight days,... and the number of people in quarantine is zero. Given the circumstances,... the government and the medical world believe our citizens can relax. The virus no longer poses a threat." The battle is virtually over. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Tuesday announced a de facto end to the MERS outbreak that claimed 36 lives and infected 186 people in Korea. The declaration comes 69 days since the first case was confirmed on May 20th. The prime minister encouraged the public to continue on with their daily lives without the slightest concern about MERS. Hwang added that he hoped to see citizens fully reengage in the various economic, cultural and educational activities they were involved in before the outbreak. Apologizing for the government′s poor handling of the crisis in the early stages, the prime minister pledged to examine the reasons why... to learn from the mistakes that were made. "I will find out what went wrong with the initial response to the outbreak and take all the necessary follow-up measures." The prime minister vowed to uphold the elevated watch level at medical facilities until the outbreak is declared officially over. Eleven of the twelve remaining MERS patients still in hospital have tested negative, but one patient has shown mixed results, and is set to undergo further testing this week. The official end to the outbreak is expected to come at the end of next month,... as the World Health Organization suggests a 28-day "wait-and-see period" after the final MERS patient tests negative. Han Da-eun, Arirang News. Meanwhile, Seoul′s foreign ministry says all travel advisories for Korea have been lifted as of Tuesday. Seven countries including China, Russia and Vietnam had advised citizens to refrain from visiting Korea. Title: Parliamentary committee calls for inspection of Samsung Medical Center A special parliamentary committee tasked with handling the MERS outbreak... has requested an inspection of Samsung Medical Center,... one of the epicenters of the virus. The committee, in resolution on Tuesday,... urged the government to scrutinize the steps the hospital took in treating MERS patients,... as well as take stock of its own poor handling of the outbreak. The center was the source of infection for 91 patients,... about half of the total. The resolution is expected to pass the full assembly next month. With that, the MERS committee,... composed of 18 lawmakers from