Its over! South Korea announces 'de facto end' to MERS outbreak

South Korea's Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has declared a "de facto end" to the Middle East Respiratory Virus (Mers) outbreak.

Hwang said that the people "can now be free from worry" as there had been no new infections for 23 days, the BBC reported.

According to the reports, he also apologised for the government's much-criticised response towards the deadly virus, which claimed lives of 36 people in South Korea and infected 186.

However, WHO has no plans to declare that Mers was officially over at present, as they need 28 days without infection to make the announcement, which is twice the incubation period of the virus.

The last case was confirmed in South Korea on 4 July.

South Korean Health Ministry official Kwon Duk-cheol assured that they would still maintain precautions, including screening at airports, "until the situation comes to a formal end".

Mers had appeared in South Korea on 26 May, after a man who had visited the Middle East, where the disease was first identified in 2012, entered the country.