A top official in the Ministry of Health has been relieved of his duties in the Jeddah governorate and transferred to the King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah.

Dr. Sami Badawood, formerly a director with the Health Ministry and head of Health Affairs in the Jeddah governorate, was transferred to the King Fahd Hospital on Sunday by Health Minister Adel Fakeih.

He has been replaced by Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Khotani, a leading pediatrician in the Makkah region. Al-Khotani is currently serving as head of the pediatrics department and is also dean of the faculty of medicine at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah.

The Health Ministry in Riyadh announced the news of Dr. Badawood’s transfer late on Sunday but he confirmed with Arab News later that he had been relieved of his post as director of health affairs.

Dr. Badawood was at the helm of Health Affairs where he was tasked with the closure of a leading private hospital in Jeddah, handled the efforts against the spread and control of MERS-Coronavirus which spread panic in Jeddah a few months ago and responsible for the screening of the latest health scare, the Ebola virus scare among pilgrims from Africa arriving in Jeddah.