The Ministry of Health (MOH), represented by the Command and Control Center (CCC) at Riyadh Health Affairs General Directorate, fined a private hospital in Riyadh SR 100.000; due to non-compliance with infection control measures prescribed by the CCC.
The CCC has recorded the failure of the said hospital to report suspected cases of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), thus violating the Private Health Institution Law, which stipulates that the private health institution must report any suspected cases of infectious disease detected there.
It is worth mentioning that the MOH, represented by the command and control centers at Health Affairs General Directorates in the Kingdom’s regions, apply strict control over all government and private health facilities, to ensure the application of infection control policies and measures at health facilities; in an endeavor to maintain the patients’ health and safety.
Within the same vein, Riyadh Health Affairs General Directorate underscored that it keeps on its strict control over all affiliated government and private health facilities, to ensure the application of infection control measures. These procedures have been approved by the competent bodies and circulated to all governmental and private health institutions, in order to abide by such laws and regulations, related to the communicable diseases in general, and the respiratory viruses such as MERC-CoV in particular.
For its part, the MOH highlighted the importance of protection against infection, and called on all people to follow these practices:
- Wash your hands well with soap and water,
- Avoid contact with patients,
- Refrain from touching eyes and nose,
- Use a tissue when coughing or sneezing, or cover the mouth by the arm and then wash the hands and the arm thoroughly,
- Avoid close contact with camels infected with respiratory symptoms,
- Abide by preventive measures when dealing with camels,
- And maintain hygiene and healthy behaviors in general.