Vietnam battens down the hatches as S.Korea confirms fifth MERS death   Passengers being checked for temperature via remote device at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport. Photo: Bich Ngoc Vietnam has set up four task forces to ward off the infection of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in the country and screening passengers’ temperature at the airport following an outbreak in South Korea. The task forces will be in charge of the northern, central, southern regions and the Central Highlands respectively. They will snap into action to verify information of suspected infected cases, quarantine patients for treatment and prevent the disease, caused by coronavirus, from spreading. Meanwhile, two major international airports, Hanoi’s Noi Bai and Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat, have been monitoring temperature of all passengers via remote devices. Earlier, the two airports have requested passengers from South Korea to fill in medical forms. Figures from the health ministry showed that more than 23,000 people from countries with reported MERS infections have entered Vietnam through Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat airports this year. Reports from international media showed that South Korea has confirmed 50 infections of MERS-CoV, including 5 fatalities. The first patient, reported on May 20, was a 68-years-old person who fell sick after visiting Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. MERS is similar to the virus that caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which emerged in China in 2002-2003 and killed some 800 people in 30 countries, including five in Vietnam. It was first detected in Saudi Arabia in 2012. At least 26 countries have reported cases of the virus and the World Health Organization has been notified of 443 deaths out of 1,185 confirmed cases. Thanh Nien News