Schools reopen as S. Korea seeks normality

SEOUL: Thousands of South Korean schools that were shut by worries over Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) reopened today as the country sought to return to normal, nearly four weeks into an outbreak that showed signs of slowing.
Five new cases were reported by the Health Ministry on Monday, taking the total to 150, the largest outbreak outside of Saudi Arabia. The ministry also said another patient infected with the MERS virus had become the 16th fatality.
All the cases have been traced to healthcare facilities.
Four hospitals have been shut down completely or partially closed in an effort to stop the spread of what the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said was a "large and complex" outbreak.
At least 440 schools remained closed today, compared with the 2,900 that were shut on Friday.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye, whose approval rating has been battered over the government's response to MERS, urged the country today to return to normal.
"I ask the business community, too, to continue to go on with investment, production and management activities as normal and particularly help with ensuring that consumers don't hold back from spending money," she told a meeting of senior aides.
Park, who last week postponed a scheduled visit to the United States, saw her public support rating dip below 35% last week, according to a Realmeter poll.
Her government has been criticised for refusing in the early days of the outbreak to release the name of the hospital where infected and suspected patients had stayed, fuelling public fear and confusion.
On Saturday, the WHO cited shortcomings in South Korea's early response to MERS and urged better communication by the government to improve confidence and trust in its effort to fight the outbreak, domestically and internationally.
The Health Ministry said it was moving to quarantine more than 5,500 people who may have been exposed to the MERS virus at a prominent Seoul hospital, which has suspended most services after becoming a new epicentre of the outbreak. The number will take the total in quarantine to about 10,000.
The WHO last week recommended schools be reopened, saying schools have not been linked to transmission of the MERS virus in South Korea or elsewhere. – Reuters