Manama: Two of the 11 patients infected with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) virus in the Red Sea city of Jeddah have died, Saudi Arabia has reported. Six patients have recovered and three are undergoing tests and treatment, the Jeddah health authorities said one day after the emergency department of King Fahad hospital in the city was completely shut down for disinfection. Patients were referred to King Abdul Aziz and Al Thaghir hospitals while the disinfection was carried out.
“The disinfection will go on until we are certain that the environment is safe and secure,” sources told Sabq news site. Health officials said that the hospital had taken all the necessary measures to deal with the first Mers case when it was discovered as well as with the subsequent cases, including testing family members and hospital staff. As the health authorities grapple with the panic that gripped the city on Tuesday amid wild rumours about the spread of the potentially deadly virus, health authorities sought to reassure the public by insisting that no cases had been recorded in Makkah or in other cities.
Khalid Al Morghalani, the spokesperson for the health ministry, said that the emergency department at the King Fahad hospital would re-open soon and that it would resume its operations fully. He added that allegations that the virus had spread to other cities were mere rumours that lacked credibility. “The health ministry is in constant cooperation with international experts and organisations and there is also the national committee made up of representatives from various government departments to combat the virus,” he said, quoted by Sabq.
Meanwhile, Prince Mishal Bin Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Makkah, called for an intensification of precautionary measures to ensure the virus does not spread to hospitals and medical facilities in the region. The governor who was briefed on the situation said that all residents must be protected through special measures and an intense prevention awareness campaign.
According to March figures by the World Health Organisation (WHO), 206 people have had the Mers coronavirus since September 2012 with 86 cases ending in death.
Most cases were reported in Saudi Arabia or among people who had travelled to Saudi Arabia. Saudi health authorities announced on Wednesday another death caused by the Mers virus in the capital Riyadh, the health ministry said. It also reported that another two Saudis had been infected by the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome — one a 51-year-old and the other a 90-year-old, both of whom are suffering chronic illnesses. The latest figures bring to 179 the number of cases of Mers in Saudi Arabia since the virus first appeared in the kingdom in September 2012.
