Many countries and regions have issued travel alerts to South Korea, but China has yet to follow suit. On Wednesday, Chinese health authorities say they were keeping a close eye on the MERS situation in South Korea, and will respond accordingly.
China's Hong Kong and Macao have both raised their response levels in precaution of MERS and warned residents not to go to South Korea. But health authorities on the Chinese mainland say further studies on the MERS virus are needed before deciding whether to issue a formal alert.
"Our latest study shows that the chance of the MERS virus coming into China has increased significantly, because there is a relatively frequent flow of people travelling between China and South Korea. The Chinese government has established a coordinated prevention and control system, which remains alert towards the situation and will respond accordingly," said Mao Qun'an, Spokesperson of National Health And Family Planning Commission.
Meanwhile, there are reports that a female Chinese national in South Korea has been diagonosed with MERS.
Chinese health authorities say they are in the process of confirmation.
"We have kept in close contact with the South Korean government on the conditions of Chinese citizens in the country. So far, we have yet to receive confirmation from the South Korean government of any cases," Mao said.
But there is also some positive news.
So far, the only case of MERS in China involves a South Korean man who came to South China's Guangdong Province. He is now stable and is still being treated.
Meanwhile, Guangdong authorities say that all 75 suspected people who came into close contact with him have so far shown no signs of infection. However, they are still being held in quarantine as a precaution.
Experts say that although the virus can be transmitted via coughing and sneezing, and has a global mortality rate of around 40 percent, the chance of human-to-human transmission is still lower than SARS.
One lesson China learned from its SARS epidemic 12 years ago is that it's just as important to release timely information to the public as it is to deliver medical treatment. Health authorities say China has significantly improved its response to infectious diseases, and will try all means to prevent MERS from developing into a SARS-like scenario.
