Dozens of kindergartens and elementary schools near a hospital where South Korea's first MERS death was reported are closed for the week to prevent the spread of the disease, officials said Tuesday.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education said more than 40 private kindergartens and elementary schools have posted notifications of their decision to cancel classes until the end of this week.

Earlier on Tuesday, officials said 22 elementary schools in the province were at risk of being exposed to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus. They are located near the hospital in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, where a 58-year-old woman died on Monday before she was confirmed to have contracted the disease, the first death from the illness in South Korea.

The woman had been in the same hospital as the country's first MERS patient.

She is one of the two people who died after having been in contact with the first MERS patient. South Korea says 25 people have so far been confirmed as MERS patients.

Four elementary schools in North Chuncheong Province have also decided to cancel classes until Friday after a teacher at one of the schools reportedly came in close contact with a MERS patient.

The teacher is known to have visited his father on May 23 before the father was diagnosed with MERS on Tuesday.

The teacher also interacted with instructors working at three other elementary schools last weekend. The schools are among the four that are closed for the week.

MERS is a viral respiratory illness that is new to humans, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There had been only 1,142 reported cases in 23 countries since the first case was confirmed in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

Most people infected with MERS develop severe acute respiratory illness, including a fever, a cough and shortness of breath. There currently is no vaccine or treatment for the disease that has a very high fatality rate of over 40 percent. (Yonhap)