Picture of the Day: A Memorable MERS Wedding

A South Korean couple’s special day has become an unexpected symbol of the country’s MERS health scare, after a joke wedding photo with their guests wearing surgical face masks went viral.

The picture that flooded South Korean social networking sites showed the young couple formally posing with dozens of family and friends — with nearly everyone’s face obscured by the white masks.

It was taken at their wedding in Seoul on Saturday, as the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) gathered pace.

As of Tuesday, nearly 100 people had been infected by the virus, of whom seven have died.

“This is so scary and sad,” one Facebook user commented on the photo which was apparently taken by a guest.

But the couple’s wedding planner said the picture was not meant to be taken seriously and added that the couple — currently on honeymoon — had been taken aback by the publicity.

The wedding was held “normally” in Seoul, the planner, Hwang Myung-Hwan, told AFP.

“They had already taken normal group photos without masks when they decided to do something fun,” he said.  [AFP]