South Korea declared an end Tuesday to an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) that killed 36 people, more than two months after the first case was reported.

"After weighing various circumstances, the medical personnel and the government judge that the people can now be free from worry," Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn told a meeting of government officials in Seoul.

The last suspected MERS patient was released from quarantine on Monday, and there have been no new reported cases for 23 days.

"I ask the public to shake off all concerns over MERS and to resume normal daily activities, including economic, cultural, leisure and school activities," Hwang added.

The outbreak wreaked havoc on South Korea's economy, stifling consumer spending and taking a heavy toll on the tourist sector. Thousands of schools were closed at the peak of the outbreak, as parents kept their children home.

The MERS virus, first identified in 2012 in Saudi Arabia, is considered a deadlier but less infectious cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), an outbreak of which killed hundreds in Asia in 2003.

South Korean health officials had been criticized for their poor initial response to the outbreak, but sweeping quarantine measures that saw nearly 17,000 people confined to their homes proved effective in preventing the spread of the disease.

The government recently announced a $19.8 billion (17.9 billion euro) stimulus package, much of which will go to aid businesses hurt by the outbreak.

bw/lw (AFP, Reuters, AP)