Acting Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan Sunday expressed concerns the ongoing spread of the MERS virus will eat into the local tourism industry during the summer peak season.

As of Sunday afternoon, South Korea has reported 15 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-related deaths, along with seven new cases, which has brought up the total number of patients to 145.

"We've seen and confirmed the plunge in visitors from abroad," Choi said during a meeting with related industry officials at Incheon International Airport.

"(The MERS outbreak) is feared to have an adverse effect on the overall tourism sector until the summer peak season," he said, adding that the "fundamental solution for normalizing businesses is to prevent the illness from spreading further during its early stages."

Some 2,000 Chinese and 500 Taiwanese are estimated to have called off their trips here as of June 1, according to the state-run Korea Tourism Organization, with more cancellations expected this month as tourists remain cautious of further developments.

Local tour agencies have also forecast the cancellation rate from China to rise between 15 and 20 percent this month, or about 70,000 people, considering the number of monthly visitors from the Asian neighbor.

Duty free stores, a popular tourist spot in South Korea, also reported a plunge in sales.

Officials from the Lotte Department Store duty free shop in downtown Seoul said sales were down sharply, with the number of visitors having fallen by around 70 percent from when the first MERS case emerged in the country on May 20.

Also on Sunday, the Finance Ministry said it will form a special task force to check the economic impact of MERS on a daily basis and come up with countermeasures.

The ministry earlier said it will provide up to 400 billion won ($358 million) to businesses and communities affected by the outbreak in the form of emergency relief funds. (Yonhap)