Saudi authorities are concerned as MERS deaths surge
August 28, 2015
Saudi Authorities have recorded 19 fatalities in one week from the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronovirus.
A total of 502 people have died in the kingdom since the virus first appeared in 2012.
The number of MERS infections has also surged to 1,171 cases, according to the Saudi health ministry website.
A surge in infections forced health authorities to shut the emergency room at a main hospital in Riyadh last week after at least 46 people, including medical staff, contracted MERS.
With Saudi Arabia preparing to host more than two million Muslims from all over the world next month for the annual hajj to Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, health authorities are concerned about the safety of the pilgrims. Saudi Arabia is the country worst hit by the coronavirus.
MERS is considered a deadlier but less infectious relative of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus that appeared in Asia in 2003 and killed hundreds of people, mostly in China.
Symptoms can include fever, coughing, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure.
av/lw (AFP, AP)