HEALTH-MERS/SOUTH KOREA-SCHOOLS Classrooms in Seoul fumigated amid MERS outbreak

Record ID: 150891

  • Title: HEALTH-MERS/SOUTH KOREA-SCHOOLS Classrooms in Seoul fumigated amid MERS outbreak
  • Date: 11th June 2015
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (JUNE 11, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SOUTH KOREAN WORKERS FROM A DISINFECTION SERVICE COMPANY WEARING FACE MASKS WALKING IN HALLWAY AND INTO A CLASSROOM WORKERS SPRAYING DISINFECTANT ON FLOOR WORKER SPRAYING DISINFECTANT ON WINDOW WORKER SPRAYING DISINFECTANT AROUND CLASSROOM VARIOUS OF WORKERS SPRAYING DISINFECTANT INSIDE C
  • Embargoed: 26th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABKNMIKIZMHLZJY4JXBMOVMZGU
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: South Korean workers sprayed disinfectant around classrooms in a school in the South Korean capital on Thursday (June 11), as fourteen new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) were reported, bringing the total to 122 with 10 fatalities.
    Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent at Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has said that every school within the capital will be fumigated by the end of this week as part of measures to prevent the spread of MERS. There are over 1000, ranging from elementary to high schools in the capital.
    A joint South Korean-World Health Organization mission on Wednesday (June 10) recommended that schools be reopened as they were unlikely to spread the disease, just as school boards recommended more should be shut.
    Some schools were set to reopen on Monday (June 15) as the province of Gyeonggi, which surrounds the capital, said it would call off an advisory to suspend classes.
    The spread of the disease has stirred up public fear and confusion, prompting President Park Geun-hye to postpone a visit to the United States, while health officials have been criticised over a lack of transparency and for failing to swiftly contain the spread.
    MERS was first identified in humans in 2012. Most of the global cases, which number 1,271 according to WHO data and at least 448 related deaths, have been in the Middle East.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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