RIYADH – Two more Saudis have succumbed to a new SARS-like virus, taking the number of deaths from the coronavirus in the Kingdom to seven in one week, the Ministry of Health announced on Monday. By Monday morning, 13 cases were registered. Six of the survivors are undergoing treatment. The ministry is relying on latest reliable information, conducting needed tests, and is forming appropriate committees of experts to tackle the issue, said Deputy Minister of Health for Health Affairs Dr. Mansur Al-Hawwasi at a press conference attended by Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health for Public Health Dr. Ziad Mimish and a number of members of the National Committee for Communicable Diseases and the National Committee of Infection Control in the Kingdom. All the cases were found in Saudis, and no expat has been admitted so far with coronavirus infection, said Dr. Mimish. He said that there was no cause for panic as all the cases were restricted to a particular hospital in Al-Ahsa. Dr. Jaafar Al-Tawfeeq, member of the National Committee for Communicable Diseases, told Saudi Gazette that all those who died of coronavirus were over 50 years of age and were suffering from chronic diseases. “These diseases weakened their immune system and thus weakened their ability to fight infection,” he said. Dr. Gewn Stephens, another member, said that the discovery of the virus in the Kingdom and few other countries does not mean that the virus does not exist in other countries. The virus could be found in many countries if thorough diagnosis is done on regular cases of influenza-like infections, she said. “The discovery of the virus in these countries tells us that the detection system is efficient enough to monitor unusual cases,” she added. Dr. Sulaiman Al-Shehri, who is also the representative of the Ministry of Education in the National Committee for Communicable Diseases, said that the ministries of health and education are jointly conducting awareness campaigns in schools.
