Jeddah: The Saudi health ministry announced eight new deaths from the Mers virus on Sunday taking the kingdom’s death toll from the disease to 102.
A full 39 of the deaths have been this month, sparking growing public concern about the virus that first emerged in April 2012.
Among the latest deaths was a nine-month-old infant, the ministry said.
With the rising death toll the authorities scrambled to reassure an increasingly edgy population in the country worst-hit by the infectious coronavirus.
Public fears have been fuelled by a rapid rise in the number of fatalities from the respiratory infection.
Riyadh dismissed the health minister earlier this month without saying why, and Labour Minister Adel Faqih, appointed acting health minister, promised “transparency” over Mers.
Panic over its spread among medical staff in the western city of Jeddah led to the temporary closure of a main hospital’s emergency room.
Faqih said on Saturday that three specialised medical centres have been set up in Jeddah, Riyadh and Eastern Province.
But people are still not taking any chances.
“I’ve decided to keep my six-year-old daughter at home and not send her to school,” said Umm Muntaha. “Prevention is better than cure.”
Schools remain open despite rumours of possible closures, but many have asked parents to equip their children with face masks and disinfectants.
Pharmaceutical sources have already spoken of a shortage of masks in Jeddah because of rising demand.
“Demand for masks has grown 10 times during the past two weeks,” said one pharmacist in Jeddah, who has now run out of stock.
The health ministry has not taken any “additional measures” at airports apart from the “usual preventive measures”, a ministry official said.
Mers infections are rising steadily just months ahead of the annual Haj pilgrimage to Makkah and Madinah, which this year comes in September.
Pilgrims continue to visit Makkah for the lesser umra pilgrimage, which can be performed at any time.
The Haj ministry has not yet taken any special Mers-related measures.
“We have not distributed masks and not taken any preventive measures,” ministry undersecretary Abdullah Marghalani said.
“We have not received any instructions about the virus and how to immunise umra pilgrims against it.”
Mers has not had any impact on the numbers of pilgrims, Marghalani told Al Eqtisadiah daily, adding that some 3.8 million pilgrims have visited the country this year.
The World Health Organisation announced on Wednesday that it had offered to send international experts to Saudi Arabia to investigate “any evolving risk” associated with the transmission pattern of the virus.
A recent study said the virus has been “extraordinarily common” in camels for at least 20 years, and it may have been passed from the animals to humans and now evolved.
