Manama: Clinics and other health facilities in Saudi Arabia that do not report cases of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (Mers-CoV) will be shut down and have their licences revoked, a health ministry official has said.
“Fines of up to SR100,000 will be imposed on the facilities and on health practitioners who conceal cases, do not report them or do not take the necessary measures to prevent the spread of the disease,” Abdul Aziz Bin Saeed, the ministry undersecretary for general health said, quoted by local daily Al Eqtisadiya on Tuesday.
Reports said that the total number of deaths from the virus in Saudi Arabia has reached 385.
A facility that repeats violations after it is warned by an inspection team would be seen as refusing to comply with the new regulations and would be subject to stricter punitive measures, he added.
“The ministry will soon announce the list of errors and the fines that the heath facilities will have to pay,” he said. “The ministry will have a strict zero-tolerance policy and will take all the necessary measures to protect patients.”
The official’s warning comes after the health ministry shut down a large private hospital in the capital Riyadh for not addressing the spread of Mers properly.
According to the ministry, the Command and Control Centre (CCC) of Riyadh Health Affairs General Directorate closed the hospital after “failing to comply with infection control guidelines issued by the CCC to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.”
Adnan Al Abdul Karim, the Director General of Riyadh Health Affairs, said the violations committee has recorded several irregularities endangering the lives of patients and visitors.
“The violations are related to the level of sterilisation as well as other irregularities at the emergency and intensive care units and operation rooms in a manner that violate standards and regulations of infection control,” he said.
Deputy Minister for Public Health and Head of the CCC, Abdul Aziz Bin Saeed, said the “efforts coincide with the steps taken by the CCC to handle the expected seasonal increase of Mers-CoV cases in the kingdom, as indicated through epidemiological studies of outbreaks in recent years.”
