Four new cases of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, according to a report by Saudi Press Agency. The Health Ministry announced the news last night, stating it has taken the situation very seriously and initiated several crucial public health actions in order to prevent further outbreak.
As of Sunday, there were a total of 24 cases officially confirmed by the Saudi Health Ministry, including 15 deaths. With the four new infections, the number jumps to 28 since the disease was identified last year. One of the four new patients has already been released from hospital, but the other three are still being treated. This may mean the rate of infection in the kingdom is increasing, with more than half of the new cases reported the past two weeks. The situation in the country is getting more serious and according to the report, the Health Ministry is now working to minimize further spreading of the deadly virus by taking decisive steps such as strengthening the surveillance and initiating research and investigation.
Saudi authorities are now working in collaboration with the World Health Organization, aiming at answering important questions – how exactly the infection is spreading, and what the main risk factors are for both infection and development of severe disease. WHO officials said on Sunday during their visit in the kingdom, that the novel coronavirus is most likely to be transmitted person-to-person. This statement, however, remains only a likely theory, since patients seem to get infected only after a prolonged and close contact. A second case of the virus was confirmed in France this Sunday, after a man who shared a room in the hospital with the only French patient, was also diagnosed. Other cases have appeared so far in the United Kingdom, Qatar, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates, with patients having some link to the Gulf region. French media headlines went even further by calling the novel coronavirus, NCoV, the MERS, or Middle East respiratory Syndrome.
NCoV causes flu-like symptoms such as coughing, fever and even pneumonia, as well as shortness of breath and kidney failure. The virus comes from the same broad family as the SARS which killed more than 800 in Asia in 2003 but it’s believed to be far less contagious. Most of its victims so far have been older men who either live or have traveled to the Middle East. According to the Saudi Press Agency, a possible reason why so many cases have been identified in the kingdom, is the fact that Saudi authorities have intensified their lab capacities and improved their surveillance systems.
