DOHA, 30 April 2003 — An American man and a Thai woman suffering from SARS-like symptoms have been admitted to a hospital in Qatar, Health Minister Ahmad Hajar Al-Benali told AFP yesterday.
“An American national and a Thai flight attendant suspected of being infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome were admitted to a special unit at Al-Rumaila Hospital” in the capital Doha, Al-Benali said.
“Blood analyses are being carried out right now in an American laboratory and the results will be known in a week, but the chances are slim that these two people were infected by the disease,” he said.
Al-Benali said the two patients’ health “is improving progressively.” “The young woman no longer has a fever and the American’s temperature is coming down,” he said.
The Gulf countries have been taking a series of precautions to prevent inroads by SARS, which has killed more than 300 people worldwide, mostly in mainland China and Hong Kong.
