South Korea recorded its sixth death from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus on Sunday, while the number of infected continues to rise, with 23 new victims reported on Monday.

According to BBC News, a man in his 80s from Daejun died on Monday morning after contracting the virus. 

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According to reports, most of the new MERS infections have occurred in hospitals with most of them being transmitted between patients and erstwhile healthy people who came in close contact with MERS patients including hospital staff and visiting family and friends. 17 out of the 23 new recorded MERS cases were reportedly contracted at the Samsung Medical Centre located in Seoul. 

The latest statistics came out after South Korea confirmed the names of the 24 hospitals that are involved in the fatal MERS outbreak. The hospitals are mostly located in Seoul and Gyeonggi province, including Samsung Medical Centre and Pyeongtaek St. Mary's Hospital.

An expert on infectious diseases warned that this could turn into an epidemic affecting the whole country. In fact, up to 2,100 South Koreans who have already been advised to remain at home and to limit their contact with other people. 200 other people remain quarantined in hospitals.

According to acting prime minister of South Korea, Choi Kyung-hwan, the government is closely keeping track of all patients confirmed with MERS. He added that the possibility of the virus being spread even further is slim. Suspected victims are reportedly being closely monitored and observed. The Guardian reported that medics are even constantly tracking those who are staying at home through their phones.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ho Pak-leung, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong, said that the South Korean government's idea of divulging the names of the hospitals more than two weeks later was ridiculous. He criticized the government and warned that there could be more people infected by the virus.

Ho said it is challenging for the government to handle the situation especially with the probability that the virus could spread throughout the country. He pointed out that the practice of transferring patients from one hospital to another worsened the situation.

In line with the outbreak, Mayor Park Won-soon of Seoul blamed the central government for the lack of information regarding the virus. This was contradicted by Moon Hyung-pyo, the country's health minister, who said that comments like this only raised public concern.

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