S.Korea closes 209 schools for MERS fears

A general view shows an empty classroom at an elementary school in Yeongdong, North Chungcheong Province, central South Korea, June 3, 2015, as more than 200 schools have canceled classes due to increasing cases of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). [Photo/IC]

MERS fears mounted in the province after a 58-year-old woman was belatedly diagnosed with the viral disease in the region.

The woman, who passed away Monday for an acute incompletion of respiratory organ, was confirmed positive for the MERS last Tuesday.

After having contact with the patient zero for three days from May 15, she moved to a hospital in the province as she was initially excluded from the government's quarantine list.

The health authorities traced her at the hospital in the province on Sunday night, a day before she passed away. Then, the hospital began to put the woman and her medical staffs under quarantine and observation.

The number of South Koreans diagnosed with the MERS corona virus surged to 30 on Wednesday. Among them, two people have been dead, and three tertiary infections cases have been identified.