South Korea swine flu toll rises to 45

SEOUL - South Korean health officials said Wednesday three more people have died of swine flu, raising to 45 the number of fatalities from the viral disease in the country, WAM news agency reported Wednesday.

A three-year-old baby and two men were the latest victims of the H1N1 virus, the health and family affairs ministry 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 of the Korea Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hundreds of schools remained closed Wednesday and soldiers were banned from going out of their barracks at weekends, a day after the government raised the swine flu alert level to its highest “red” status in the country.

According to officials, nearly 10,000 new cases of infection are being recorded every day in the country.