South Korea closes more schools amid MERS outbreak

A South Korean and World Health Organization mission studying an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) recommended on Wednesday that schools be reopened because they are unlikely to spread the disease, just as school boards in South Korea recommended that more schools be shut.

South Korea's Health Ministry said on Wednesday two more people have died from MERS and announced 13 new cases, lifting the total number of patients to 108 and prompting President Park Geun-hye to postpone a visit to the United States.

Park had been due to leave for the United States, her country's closest ally, on Sunday. Her office said the coming week would be a "watershed" for the country's response to the disease.

The outbreak, the largest outside Saudi Arabia, has fueled public anxiety, with thousands of people in quarantine and the number of schools closing rising to 2,474, including 22 universities. Many people on the streets are wearing face masks, public transport is being disinfected, and attendance at movie theaters and baseball games has tumbled.

But the joint mission, which began its work on Tuesday, urged the government to consider reopening schools. "Schools have not been linked to transmission of [the virus] in the Republic of Korea or elsewhere," the mission said.

The recommendation came as the school boards of Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi province announced the extension of existing school closures through Friday and recommended more to shut.

It was not immediately known how many schools would follow the recommendation to reopen. But South Korean officials hope the outbreak will be under control around Friday, the last day of the virus' maximum two-week incubation period for those infected by a patient considered as the main source of the second round of the MERS outbreak. Officials say the first wave of the outbreak has ended.

But critics say the outbreak will continue if infected people evade government quarantine measures and spread the virus.

First identified in humans in 2012, MERS is caused by a coronavirus from the same family as the one that triggered China’s deadly 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). There is no cure or vaccine for MERS.

Some countries around the region have issued advisories against travel to South Korea or stepped up screening of inbound passengers.

Cinema ticket sales and amusement park entries were down by more than half.

Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan advised against unnecessary fear and urged the public to get on with their daily lives. WHO has not recommended any curbs on travel.

The latest two deaths, both cancer patients, bring the number of fatalities to nine. All of those who died had been suffering serious ailments before testing positive for MERS, the health ministry said.

South Korea's infections have all been traced to a man who developed MERS after returning from a trip to the Middle East in early May and who came into contact with others before being diagnosed.

All subsequent infections, including the 13 announced on Wednesday, have been linked to health facilities, the ministry said.

The number of people who may have been in contact with MERS patients and were now in quarantine rose to 3,439, while quarantine has been lifted for 641 people, the ministry said.

South Korea's new cases bring the total number of MERS cases globally to 1,257 based on WHO data, with at least 448 related deaths.

Wire services