President Park Geun-hye visited the National Medical Center on Friday where patients of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome are quarantined.
 
The presidential office said that Park visited the state-designated hospital on MERS after deciding to postpone a planned unification preparatory committee meeting.

The office said the president was briefed on the status of patient treatment and operation of quarantine sickbeds, and had a chance to listen to opinions of medical staff and civic experts. 

At the medical center, Park also encouraged doctors and nurses tending to the patients of the respiratory disease and urged thorough quarantine efforts to prevent the virus from further spreading.

The Health and Welfare Ministry and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are currently operating state-designated quarantine sickbeds for MERS patients at 17 hospitals across the country. 

The hospitals altogether have installed 474 regular sickbeds and 105 specially designed ones where air only goes into the hospital room by means of special sound wave technology.