The Ministry of Health yesterday said a patient in the Asir region had been diagnosed with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) infection, the 66th case in the Kingdom.
So far, a total of 38 deaths have been reported out of the 66 cases detected in the Kingdom. This is the first case of the virus detected in Asir, an official from the Ministry of Health said yesterday. He pointed out that earlier cases were found in areas such as Al-Ahsa, Al-Qassim, Riyadh, Jeddah, Hafr Al-Batin, Dammam, Wadi Al-Dwasir, Taif and Bisha.
According to the official, the latest victim was a 66-year-old Saudi male in Asir said to be in a stable condition. He also pointed out that a female health practitioner, who was affected by the virus in Hafr Al-Batin, was discharged on Monday upon recovering from the illness.
During the past four days, he said, the central laboratory of the Ministry of Health tested 103 suspected samples from the 20 health regions and found them to be negative.
On Saturday, the ministry announced the detection of three virus cases and recorded the deaths of two patients who were infected earlier. The three infected cases included two men, 67 and 69 years of age from Riyadh and they are currently receiving treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a government hospital in the capital, while the third was a staff member at a hospital in Hafr Al-Batin.
The two death cases included, a 53-year-old citizen in the Eastern Region and a two-year-old child in Jeddah, who was suffering from a chronic pulmonary disease.
Asir patient is Kingdom's 66th MERS case
