The latest fatality from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome was a 62-year-old man who died Sunday afternoon in the southern port city of Busan, the city council said.

He was diagnosed on June 7 after being infected in Samsung Medical Centre in Seoul — a major hospital and the epicentre of more than 70 cases.

The health ministry also confirmed Sunday seven new cases of the virus, including four from the Samsung hospital, bringing the total number of infections to 145.

Separately, a paramedic who helped transport a MERS patient to the hospital on June 7 was infected. On Saturday, authorities announced that the ambulance driver also involved in transporting the patient — who died three days later — had also been infected.

One of the other new patients was infected in the central city of Daejeon and another in Hwaseong, about 43 kilometres (27 miles) south of Seoul.

In order to prevent further infections among patients and medical staff, Samsung hospital on Sunday temporarily suspended most of its operations.

It will stop treating outpatients, admitting new patients, or performing surgeries that are not deemed urgent, hospital president Song Jae-Hoon told reporters.

No visitors will be allowed, he said, adding he would decide on June 24 whether or not to continue the partial suspension.

“We offer our deep apology and express regret to all of our patients who were infected here and those placed under quarantine,” he said.

The hospital — normally visited by more than 8,000 patients a day — has come under fire in recent weeks for failing to stem the spread of the virus among its staff and patients.

Two doctors and three nurses have been infected so far. More than 400 patients, families and medical staff directly or indirectly exposed to the infected ambulance driver had been newly placed under quarantine, Song said.

The overall number of people across the nation who came into contact with patients and were put under quarantine — either at state facilities or at home — rose Sunday by more than 800 to 4,856.

As the outbreak continued to expand, a South Korean man thought to have contracted MERS was hospitalised in the Slovak capital Bratislava on Saturday.