Proceeding from its keenness to improve the work at the health facilities and to contain, as much as possible, the spread of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has underscored the importance of commitment of the health practitioners to the decisions and instructions governing the reporting of infectious diseases, and made clear that the reporting should be lodged directly or through the health practitioner's facility, including the Coronavirus.
His Excellency the Minister of Health, in a circular he addressed to the health directorates throughout the Kingdom's regions, explained that the MOH attaches paramount importance to reporting the suspected MERS-CoV cases through the Health Electronic Surveillance Network (HESN). That is because the current situation associated with activities of the infectious diseases, including Coronavirus, requires all health practitioners to show maximum levels of vigilance and readiness.
The circular also emphasized that the health practitioner charged with late or non-reporting of the cases shall be prone to the statutory punishment that amounts to either or both of two penalties: six-month jail, and a fine not exceeding SR 100,000. The other disciplinary punishments include termination of the license to practice the profession and removing the practitioner's name from the licensees' record.