Girls wearing face masks walk homes after school in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, June 3, 2015. More than 200 schools in South Korea have suspended classes Wednesday due to fears for contagion of young students from the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)
More than 700 schools in South Korea have decided to suspend classes as of Thursday for fears of student contagion from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
Schools, which have decided to temporarily stop classes, totaled 703 nationwide, including 262 kindergartens, 356 elementary schools, 58 middle schools, 11 high schools, four colleges and 12 special-education schools, according to the Education Ministry.
More than 80 percent of the total came from Gyeonggi Province where many infected cases were allegedly found. In the capital Seoul, six primary schools and one junior high school decided to halt classes.
As of Thursday, the number of MERS infection cases in the country surged to 35 since the first case was found on May 20.
The 35 infectees were composed of 10 in their 40s, seven in their 50s and 70s each, five in their 60s, four in their 30s and two in their 20s. No infection case of minors has been reported yet.
