South Korea reports no new MERS deaths or cases

Nurses wear masks as a precaution against the MERS virus as they attend an International Conference of Nurses in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, June 19, 2015. The WHO head has praised beleaguered South Korean officials and exhausted health workers, saying their efforts to contain a deadly MERS virus outbreak have put the country on good footing and lowered the public risk. (Baek Seng-ryul/Yonhap via AP)

SEOUL–South Korea on Saturday reported no additional deaths and no new cases from its Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) outbreak, raising hopes the country is winning the battle to contain the deadly virus.

The number of fatalities remained unchanged at 24 and that of confirmed cases stayed put at 166 over the past 24 hours, the health ministry said.

It was for the first time in 16 days that no new cases were reported, it said.

READ: South Korea says Mers outbreak shows signs of subsiding

Six more patients recovered and were released from hospital, cutting to 106 the number now under treatment.

A total of 36 people have recovered and been discharged from hospital.

The ministry on Friday reported one new case, the lowest rate of new infections in two weeks, saying the outbreak appeared to have started subsiding since the first case was diagnosed on May 20.