A South Korean man who was confirmed to have MERS in China has been put on supplemental oxygen, though his health is relatively stable, a South Korean official said Tuesday.

The 44-year-old Korean man, the son of the third person reported to have the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in South Korea, tested positive for the virus on Friday. He flew to Hong Kong on May 26 and subsequently went to the southern Chinese province of Guangdong by bus.

He has been treated under quarantine at the Huizhou Municipal Central Hospital in Guangdong.

"I heard that he was put on oxygen because he was breathing raggedly," said the official at the South Korean Consulate General in Guangdong after meeting with doctors who are treating the Korean patient.

"According to the doctors, he can sit down and stand up by himself," the official said by telephone, adding that his body temperature was about 38.5 degrees Celsius.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he has not been authorized to speak to media.

The man is reportedly in contact with his family members and friends on a daily basis.

South Korea, which reported its first MERS case on May 20, is struggling to contain an outbreak, as health authorities have now confirmed two deaths from the virus.

Also on Tuesday, a Chinese male passenger was isolated upon arrival at Weihai Airport in east China's Shandong Province from South Korea due to a high fever, according to Jeju Air Co., South Korea's No. 1 low-cost carrier.

The airline said that the man was being quarantined by Chinese authorities, though it claimed he had no contact with any of the patients.

As a precaution, the airline said it had 95 passengers wear masks and vacate the seven rows near the seat where the Chinese man sat when the 189-seat Boeing 737-800 passenger jet returned to South Korea. (Yonhap)