(VOVworld) – 209 schools in the Republic of Korea have been closed due to fears about the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea said on Wednesday.

A hospital worker takes supplies to a quarantine tent for people possibly infected with the MERS virus at Seoul National University Hospital on June 2, 2015, in Seoul. (Photo: Getty Images)

2 people died and 3 more were hospitalised with level-3-infection, increasing the total number of cases to 30. Most of the closed schools are in Gyeonggi province, where the first MERS case was reported.
The Republic of Korea’s Presidential Office said that President Park Geun-hye would hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss ways to deal with the disease.