Health and Welfare Minister Moon Hyung-pyo has apologized for causing concern for the people in relation to the spread of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

The minister offered the apology Wednesday morning during a session of the parliamentary health and welfare committee.

Moon vowed to take aggressive and active measures to prevent the disease from spreading, including swift evaluation and management of people that have come in contact with those diagnosed. He also added that quarantine efforts will be strengthened.

The minister said that health authorities should have been more thorough and cautious about people who had contact with those infected, citing the case of a daughter of a MERS-infected patient that had asked to be tested but was turned away by health authorities.