Mohammad Dawood Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Ministry of Health has set up specially-equipped external clinics at every public hospital to check and assign patients to the right emergency wards and specialized clinics, announced Deputy Minister of General Health and head of the Ministry of Health's Command and Control Center Dr. Abdulaziz Bin Saeed. “It is very important for patients suffering from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) caused by coronavirus to be isolated and not to mix with other patients,” he said. “We need to avoid incidents such as when King Khalid Hospital's emergency ward was shut down as a precaution when other patients faced the risk of coronavirus infection,” Saeed said. He added that certain categories of patients, such as the elderly, have a weak immune system and any form of contact with a patient infected by coronavirus could prove fatal. “I urge the general public to refrain from going to emergency rooms when their condition is not critical. They can always visit the health care centers available in every neighborhood,” Saeed said. Meanwhile, 10 more people died from MERS over the past week, Health Ministry figures showed on Friday, after an international mission urged extra measures to combat the virus. The latest deaths occurred between Feb. 20 and 26. The World Health Organization (WHO) has cited the preliminary results of studies indicating that people working with camels are at increased risk of infection from MERS-CoV, and young camels are particularly susceptible. But representatives of the WHO and other UN agencies who concluded a visit to the Kingdom this week said there was an urgent need for greater understanding of the “animal/human interface.” “There are so many aspects of the virus that are still unknown,” said Berhe Tekola, of the Food and Agriculture Organization. According to health ministry figures, a total of 916 people have been infected with MERS since it was first identified in the kingdom in 2012. Of those, 392 have died. More than 20 countries have been affected by the virus but most cases have been linked to the Middle East.
