The Reuters news service reported that thousands of South Korean schools reopened on Monday, but hundreds remain closed. The schools had been closed because of concerns about MERS.
The health crisis caused President Park Gyun-hye to postpone a trip planned for this week to the United States.
Worries about the virus have spread to other parts of Asia. Last week, the government in Hong Kong declared a “red alert,” advising against non-essential travel to South Korea.
MERS was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012. It can cause pneumonia and kidney failure. There is no vaccine or cure for MERS. The World Health Organization says the disease kills about 35 percent of those it infects. The South Korean Health Ministry notes that about 10 percent of those infected with it in South Korea have died.