As part of the Ministry of Health (MOH) desire to keep everyone aware of the latest developments of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and in addition to the daily report issued in this regard, the Ministry would like to state that it will issue – Allah willing – a weekly press report including all efforts exerted to deal with the virus and the recorded cases.
Within this context, the MOH announces that during the period from 3rd to 9th of Jumada I 1436H, 1,493 samples of Coronavirus were tested at MOH's Laboratories, out of which 18 confirmed cases were recorded amid people aged between 24 and 91 years old, including 12 in Riyadh and one case in each of Al-Ihsa, Khobar, Jeddah, Najran, Buraida, Al-Jouf. Their nationalities were as following (9 Saudis, 3 Yemenis, 3 Filipinos, 2 Indians, 1 Egyptian, 1 Sudanese and 1 Syrian).
These 18 confirmed cases included 13 males and 5 females, given that 6 cases were monitored in the private sector, 6 cases in the Ministry of Health, 2 cases in the National Guard Hospital, 3 cases in the university hospitals and one case in the Military Hospital.
Meanwhile, the MOH revealed that rapid response teams tasked with combating infection at health facilities paid about 26 field visits, including initial and follow-up tours, during the last week. In addition, the Preventive Medicine and Health Awareness Teams affiliated to the Ministry of Health visited 10 houses and listed 63 people in contact with patients, given that they have been placed under regular follow-up up to the end of the virus incubation period.
Regarding the complaints handled by the Ministry of Agriculture teams (including following up previous cases of direct contact with camels), they have reached up to 6 complaints as following (2 in Al-Ihsa, and 1 in each of Riyadh, Qassim, Al Madinah and Tabuk).
The MOH reiterated that the Command and Control Center continues its efforts around the clock by carrying out epidemiological surveillance tasks, making sure that all governmental and private health facilities are applying infection control measures as well as coordinating with the relevant government sectors, international Health organizations, including World Health Organization (WHO), and consulting firms to follow up all developments regarding Coronavirus.