Two exchange students currently studying in one of the most prestigious schools in Korea Sungkyunkwan University were reportedly kicked out for taking preventive measures against MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) which is taking high prevalence in the country.
A professor from the university allegedly scolded the foreigners for wearing masks and told them to leave the class.
The reason for the harsh treatment is unknown although speculation has it that the professor could be blaming foreigners for bringing in the virus inside the country.
The first case of MERS, formerly called novel coronavirus (nCoV), has been reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and is presently spreading in South Korea by reasons of travel.
The said students asked for help from their school in their home country City University of Hong Kong to obtain permission to re-enter the lectures while wearing face masks. Despite the request being granted, the students expressed their desire to return to Hongkong as soon as possible.
In the present, the Hongkong government is convincing its citizens not to travel to South Korea to avoid the risk of contracting the virus. The country is being wary for it had been hit with another epidemic back in 2003 with SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) that has originated from China on the same year.
Despite the high prevalence of MERS with 25 confirmed laboratory cases and two deaths, it seems that the Korean citizens are laid back about the outbreak.
"It seems that only about 25% of the bus commuters would wear the masks, but more people wear them on the streets. There's been about a 10% increase in mask-wearers on campus, but they are mainly students from Hong Kong," observes an exchange student from a university.
There had been a total of 1,179 laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with MERS-CoV reported to World Health Organization since 2012 that included at least 442 deaths from the virus.
According to recent studies, there is no evidence to suggest human-to-human transmission in communities and no evidence of airborne transmission. To date, animals such as bats and camels are the usual sources of transmission.
The clinical features of MERS are flu-like symptoms and are similar to that of pneumonia to which approximately 36% from the cases were fatal.
No vaccine is available yet thus foreign students and travelers in Korea are being wary that they might contract and bring the virus to their country and subsequently cause MERS pandemic.
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