Over the past three days, student and physician volunteers have distributed more than 35,000 awareness brochures on the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) to more than 12,000 persons at a number of Riyadh’s malls and shopping centers.
Within the context of the MERS-CoV Awareness Campaign, organized by the Ministry of Health (MOH) under the theme "We can stop it", in a number of cities across the Kingdom, starting from Riyadh, the volunteers have distributed thousands of printed health guidelines along with sterilizers and masks to shoppers and visitors of Annakheel and Ghornata shopping centers.
Not only did volunteers distribute awareness brochures, but some of them provided also a brief account of the correct methods to maintain the health of family members and protect them against the risk of infectious viruses, as well as answering the questions raised by shoppers about the Coronavirus, especially that volunteers include physicians and medical students. They refer critical and specialized questions to the MOH's experts who can be reached around the clock via the toll-free number: 937.
The awareness guidelines include simple tips to be followed during the day to maintain a correct lifestyle. They are also important to ensure safety against the infectious diseases, such as: washing hands thoroughly, covering the mouth with arm when sneezing, in addition to always disinfecting the hands before entering the house and using masks in places crowded with people who may be infected with infectious diseases, such as in hospitals and other health facilities.
According to Abeer Al-Shaibani and Nawaf Al-Shummary, two volunteers taking part in the campaign, the most frequently asked question by members of the family was: "What are the symptoms of Coronavirus?", while the second most asked question was: "Is there a cure for Coronavirus?"
Supervisors of the awareness campaign dubbed “We can stop it” decided to distribute sterilizers, masks and brochures during the peak hours at malls and shopping centers: from 5 to 10 pm. Similar awareness campaigns will be organized in other cities, starting with the Eastern Region, where a campaign will be launched at the end of this week in a number of shopping complexes.
University students in Riyadh welcomed the initiative and showed enthusiasm to register their names to take part in the initiative before they undergo an intensive training on the proper ways to provide the basic awareness guidelines at public places. Also many shoppers expressed their admiration of the initiative, pointing out that only awareness is all what members of community need to keep immune against any infectious viruses.