Within the framework of the strenuous efforts carried out by the Ministry of Health (MOH), and its desire to keep everyone aware of the latest developments of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) on a weekly basis, the Ministry has announced that 15 confirmed cases with Coronavirus were recorded during the World Week No. 11 over the period March 8th-14th, 2015 (corresponding to Jumada I 17th-23th, 1436H). The infected cases (10 males and 5 females) are amid people aged between 21 and 72 years. They are distributed as follows; 10 cases in Riyadh, 2 cases in Al-Ahsa and one case in each of Jeddah, Al-Qassim and Tabuk.
Their nationalities are as follows; 10 Saudis, two Sudanese, a Filipino, an Egyptian and a Yemeni. Eight cases of them were recorded at the MOH health facilities, one case at the Ministry of National Guard, another case at the Ministry of Interior (MOI), 3 cases at the university hospitals and 2 cases at the private health facilities.
The MOH pointed out that 10 cases were recorded in Riyadh, including 3 community-acquired cases, 2 cases for health practitioners, 3 hospital-acquired cases, one case in contact with a confirmed patient at home and another case is still under examination. In Al-Ahsa, 2 community-acquired cases were recorded; that’s to be added to a community-acquired case in Jeddah, and another case under examination in Al-Qassim.
Meanwhile, the MOH revealed that rapid response teams tasked with healthcare facilities infection control paid about 48 field visits, including initial and follow-up tours, during the last week, while 2,036 samples have been tested at the MOH laboratories. In addition, the Preventive Medicine Teams visited 15 houses and recorded 101 cases in contact with patients, given that they have been placed under follow-up till the end of the virus incubation period.
Regarding the complaints handled by the Ministry of Agriculture teams (including following up previous cases in direct contact with camels), the Ministry highlighted that there is only one complaint reported in Taimaa.
Within the same vein, the MOH underscored that the Command and Control Center (CCC) keeps on 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.
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Health (MOH) has launched the new phase of its health awareness campaign on the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) last week under the theme: “We Can Stop It”. The Ministry aims through this campaign to brief all society members of different categories and segments on the latest developments of the disease and ways of prevention against it via TV, radio and printed mass media, in addition to social networking websites, such as Twitter, Facebook and SMS. This comes as part of an integrated plan to achieve the goal of reaching all society members and briefing them on the updates of the disease.
This new phase includes preparation of a set of harmonious health awareness publication; including brochures identifying the disease and ways of protection against it, as well as posters and rolls-up for use at health facilities and places of mass gathering. The plan targets also advertising and streaming awareness flashes on TV and radio channels, as well as broadcasting health awareness ads in various newspapers, mass media and social networking websites.