Panic over MERS prompts hundreds of schools to close in South Korea

Hundreds of schools closed in South Korea on Thursday as officials struggled to ease growing panic over an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which has sickened 35 people, killed two and caused thousands to cancel travel plans.

More than 700 schools — from kindergartens to colleges — have shut their doors in response to public fears over the largest outbreak of MERS outside Saudi Arabia. Five more cases were confirmed on Thursday, bringing the number of known infections to 35, the Health Ministry said.

The first case — reported on May 20 — was of a 68-year-old man diagnosed after a trip to Saudi Arabia. Since then, more than 1,300 people who may have been exposed directly or indirectly to the MERS virus have been placed under varying levels of quarantine.

Some were isolated at state-designated facilities, while many were strongly advised to stay at home. In Seoul, growing public concern has been reflected in the daily increase in the number of commuters wearing facemasks on buses and subways.

The anxiety has been exported, with the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) reporting Thursday that about 7,000 tourists — mostly from China and Taiwan — have canceled planned group trips to South Korea.

"A mass cancellation of this scale is very unusual ... and many travelers cited the MERS outbreak as the main reason," a KTO spokesman told Agence France-Presse.

President Park Geun-Hye's administration and health officials in general have been criticized for responding too slowly to the outbreak.

In an emergency meeting with health officials on Wednesday, Park called for "utmost efforts" to curb the spread of the virus and ease public fear.

MERS has now infected 1,161 people globally, with 436 deaths. More than 20 countries have been affected, with most cases in Saudi Arabia. 

The virus, which has no known cure or vaccine, is considered a deadlier but less infectious cousin of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which killed hundreds of people when it appeared in Asia in 2003. The World Health Organization said it expected more infections in South Korea but stressed that there was "no evidence of sustained transmission in the community."

Agence France-Presse