H1N1 flu deaths in Korea rise to 45

Korea`s health authorities reported Wednesday three more deaths from the H1N1 flu virus, raising the nation`s death toll to 45 and indicating that the highly contagious disease is turning into a pandemic, Yonhap News said.

The latest victims were a three-year-old baby, two men in their 30s and 50s, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said in a statement.

"The baby had no symptoms of pneumonia, but there was a possibility that the virus might have intruded into his brain," said Kwon Joon-wook, an official at Korea Center for Disease Control & Prevention.

Hundreds of schools in Korea closed voluntarily and soldiers were virtually banned from going out of their barracks at weekends, a day after the government raised the national alert for the H1N1 flu to the highest "red" level.