JEDDAH — The Health Ministry announced on Tuesday that two Saudi citizens have died from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (coronavirus) and five others have contracted the virus in various parts of the Kingdom. The ministry said two Saudi men aged 75 and 77 died in government hospitals in Al-Khobar, Al-Ras, Qassim Province respectively. It said the two men were suffering from other diseases and were already registered as being treated for the virus. The ministry said the new coronavirus cases included a 60-year-old expatriate who was admitted to a government hospital in Riyadh in a critical condition. The second case is a 65-year-old Saudi man who was admitted to a government hospital in Tabuk. He contracted the virus from mixing with other patients. The third case is a 76-year-old Saudi man who contracted the virus after mixing with other confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases. He is suffering from other diseases but his condition was reported to be stable. He was admitted to a government hospital in Al-Ras. The fourth is a 37-year-old Saudi man who showed symptoms of the disease and was admitted to a government hospital in Riyadh. The man was suffering from other diseases but his general condition was described to be stable. The fifth case is a 41-year-old Saudi man who was admitted to a government hospital in Jubail. The ministry said an 85-year-old expatriate woman was discharged from a government hospital in Riyadh after she completely recovered from the infection. Meanwhile, Saeed Al-Ghamdi, director of King Abdullah Medical Complex in Jeddah, said 30 quarantine rooms and 26 beds in the intensive care unit have been prepared to receive coronavirus cases. He said at present the complex has a single coronavirus case, a woman who was transferred from King Fahd Hospital. He did not reveal the woman's nationality but said her condition was stable. Al-Ghamdi said the complex has a 500-bed capacity. “The complex is well prepared to receive and treat the coronavirus cases,” he added. Hassan Al-Bishri, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Kingdom, said studies were currently being conducted to reveal the relationship between climatic changes and bats carrying the virus. He said some studies have proved that camels may be carriers of the virus but they were not the main source.
