Faris Al-Qahtani Okaz/Saudi Gazette RIYADH – The Ministry of Health announced the death of a Saudi citizen affected by MERS-coronavirus in Riyadh. The 51-year-old citizen was a cancer patient and was suffering from chronic diseases. Two MERS cases have also been reported from the southern Asir region. A 31-year-old Saudi is undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit of an Asir hospital and his condition is reported to be stable. Another citizen has also been admitted to hospital suffering from MERS infection. Meanwhile, a number of citizens in Al-Ahsa have expressed their anxiety at the spreading of the coronavirus following the findings that the virus came from bats. A Saudi-US research team has found a partial match for MERS in a sample taken from a bat in the Kingdom. The fragment of viral DNA was extracted from a fecal swab from an Egyptian tomb bat in Al-Ahsa where a majority of the Kingdom's 70 odd coronavirus cases were detected.
