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29 March 2024

2 Saudi women, 1 Qatari die from Mers Coronavirus

Published
By Agencies

Two Saudi women have died from the MERS coronavirus and two more have contracted the disease in Saudi Arabia, the health ministry said on Saturday, raising to 44 the number of people in the kingdom who have died from the SARS-like virus.

The World Health Organisation said last month the number of confirmed infections worldwide in the past year was 102, of whom almost half have died.

The Saudi Health Ministry said in a statement one 41-year-old woman working in the health sector died in the capital Riyadh and a 79-year-old woman who had been suffering from other diseases died in Hafr al-Baten, a town in northeastern Saudi Arabia.

The ministry also reported two men aged 30 and 47 were under intensive care in Riyadh and Hafr al-Baten.

A Qatari man has died from the Mers Coronavirus, becoming the second fatality from the SARS-like virus to be recorded in the Gulf state, health authority said Saturday.

The man died on Friday after he showed symptoms of the coronavirus on August 17, Qatar's Supreme Council of Health said, adding that the man had been suffering from a chronic illness.

Earlier in the week, Qatar said a woman died after being infected, and that two other cases have been registered, including two men, aged 59 and 29, who were hospitalised last month.

On Saturday, the council said that an infected man has been cured.

Another Qatari died of the virus in a hospital in Britain on June 28.

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (Mers-CoV), which can cause coughing, fever and pneumonia, emerged in Saudi Arabia last year and has been reported in people in the Gulf, France, Germany, Italy, Tunisia and Britain.

In a study into what kind of animal "reservoir" may be fuelling the outbreak in humans, scientists said this month they had found strong evidence it is widespread among dromedary camels in the Middle East.

The WHO, a UN agency, has not recommended any travel restrictions but has urged health authorities worldwide to maintain vigilance.

Recent travellers returning from the Middle East who develop severe respiratory infections should be tested for Mers-CoV, it said.

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