Schools in South Korea have closed doors and local municipalities have canceled events as Middle East respiratory syndrome was seen spreading across regions amid escalating fears and public outcry over the government’s response to the outbreak.

A total of 1,162 schools nationwide have decided to shut down as of Thursday as the MERS death toll reached four with more than 1,600 people quarantined. Local governments, mostly cities in Gyeonggi Province, canceled or delayed events to prevent the disease from further spreading.

Foot traffic thinned out while restaurant owners tended to fewer customers.

“Who would come out to eat and dine at a time like this,” the owner of a restaurant located in Apgujeong-dong said.

A middle school in Daechi-dong, Seoul’s lucrative southern district, decided on Wednesday to close from June 4-5, as parents called for the authorities to shut it down in the fear that the government measures are not sufficient to protect their children.

“Luckily, our child care center decided to shut immediately upon hearing about the danger of MERS,” said Song Ji-hyun, a 30-year-old mother and resident in Gyeonggi Province.

“The center told us that a nearby hospital treated MERS patients and they decided to cancel classes,” said Song.

Meanwhile, local governments, mostly in Gyeonggi Province, decided to cancel public events. Anseong, Seongnam and Suwon canceled or delayed public events.

Famous tourist destinations also closed their doors.

Yanggu county, Gangwon Province, on Friday canceled tours to the front line of the Korean War. Jejudo Island and Busan City also canceled or delayed trips to tourist spots.

The scores of cancellations and shutdowns reflect the public’s growing fear and a belief that they cannot trust the government’s measures to be enough.

“(To Koreans) it is the Sewol sinking accident all over again,” said Lee Byoung-hoon, sociology professor at Chung-Ang University, referring to last year’s ferry sinking tragedy that took the lives of more than 300.

“The government failed to give assurance to the public. So the public feels they have no choice but to take the matter into their own hands as they had learned during the Sewol accident where the government failed to rescue the passengers,” said Lee.

By Yeo Jun-suk ()


koreaherald@heraldcorp.com