A 50-year-old Saudi woman died Friday and seven more people were infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
With the latest casualties, the total number of cases in the Kingdom since September 2012, has reached 869 including 481 deaths. A total of 19 virus patients are currently being treated in various hospitals in the Kingdom. So far, 481 have completely recovered from the illness following treatment in hospitals.
The deceased was a Saudi woman from Najran, while the fresh cases included five Saudis from Riyadh, Dhahran and Madinah, while the two expatriates are from Riyadh and Jeddah.
According to an official from the Ministry of Health, two of the Saudis — 58 and 53 years of age from Riyadh and Dhahran respectively — had exposure to camels.
A 27-year-old Saudi woman from Unaiza was also infected, but her condition remains stable at this time. Both cases are currently under intensive care and the Central Hospital of Buraidah is under alert to prevent any more infections.
A joint delegation from the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva and its Cairo-based Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean will arrive in the Kingdom early next week to hold talks on how to contain MERS.
The delegates, headed by Keiji Fukud, will meet with officials from the Ministry of Health and the Assistant Director-General for Health, Security and Environment to asses the current status of MERS and the measures taken to reduce contagion.
The first meeting will be held next Tuesday, with talks extended over several days, after which the delegation will hold a joint press conference with Saudi officials regarding the outcome of the meetings.
Coronavirus was first detected in 2012 in a patient from Qatar who was hospitalized in the United Kingdom, and a few weeks later the virus appeared in the Kingdom.
MD Rasooldeen - Arab News
