Thousands of schools In South Korea were shut down due to the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), according to Reuters.
Nearly four weeks into the MERS outbreak, which has reportedly showed signs of slowing, schools have reopened, according to TIME.
Despite the good news, at least 440 schools will reportedly still remain closed as the virus recently claimed its 16th victim in the country. Although five new cases were reported by the Health Ministry on Monday, taking the total of patients to 150, the number of cases emerging was reportedly much lower than daily rises that had reached as high as 23 last week.
“We know that there has been much anxiety about whether the virus in the Republic of Korea has increased its ability to transmit itself between humans,” said Keiji Fukuda, WHO assistant director general for health security, in a statement released on Saturday.
“However, based on available sequencing studies of this virus, it does not appear to have changed to make itself more transmissible.”
WHO reportedly announced plans to hold emergency talks on Tuesday to address the recent MERS outbreak, which has been described both “large and complex.”
A hospital in Daejeon, South Korea has reportedly stopped taking all new patients on Monday as a precaution after a nurse at the facility had become diagnosed with the virus.
Authorities have reportedly placed more than 5,200 people nationwide under isolation, while thousands more may be quarantined in the near future.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye has reportedly asked for South Korean citizens to attempt to return to normality.
“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,” stated Park.
