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), the Ministry announced that during the period from Jumada Al-Awal 10th-16th, 1436H, 19 confirmed cases with Coronavirus were recorded amid people aged between 30 and 74 years. The affected cases, including 11 males and 8 females, are distributed as follows: 16 cases in Riyadh, 2 cases in Qassim and a case in Jeddah. Their nationalities are as follows: 11 Saudis, 2 Filipinos, 2 Bangladeshis, a Yemeni, an Indian, a Sudanese and a Pakistani.
The MOH indicated that 16 cases were recorded in Riyadh, including 8 community-acquired cases, 3 cases for health practitioners, 3 hospital-acquired cases and 2 cases in contact with confirmed patients at homes. In Jeddah, a community-acquired case was recorded; that’s to be added to 2 cases in Qassim, one of them is acquired in the community while the other belongs to a health practitioner.
Meanwhile, the MOH revealed that rapid response teams tasked with combating infection at health facilities paid about 18 field visits, including initial and follow-up tours, during the last week. In addition, the Preventive Medicine Teams visited 15 houses and listed 196 people in contact with patients, given that they have been placed under 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 3 complaints in each of Tabuk, Shaqra and al Khurma.
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 the World Health Organization (WHO), and consulting firms to follow up all developments regarding Coronavirus.