78-Year-Old Dies of MERS in Al-Kharj

MOHAMMED RASOOLDEEN | ARAB NEWS STAFF

Published — Thursday 31 March 2016
Last update 31 March 2016 1:21 am

RIYADH: A 78-year-old Saudi woman who had been suffering from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) died in Al-Kharj, near Riyadh, on Tuesday.

According to an official at the Health Ministry, the woman, who was in a critical condition after suffering from the deadly infection, had contracted the disease from another patient.

With her death, the number of MERS-related fatalities in the Kingdom since June 2012 has risen to 581. The number of patients currently under treatment in hospitals stands at 14.

The ministry has taken all preventive measures to fight against the virus in all parts of the Kingdom. It has designated three major hospitals in Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah as centers of excellence to treat MERS patients.

In addition to these facilities, the ministry has assigned 20 more well-equipped hospitals in all the regions to look after MERS patients.

More than 2,000 primary health care centers have been requested to refer any patient who has symptoms of the disease to the nearest government hospital.

(Source: ArabNews.com)