RIYADH: A young woman and an elderly man succumbed to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and two men tested positive in Buraidah on Sunday.

With the latest deaths, the toll has gone up to 569 since the outbreak of the virus in June 2012 in the Kingdom.

According to the Ministry of Health, the woman patient was 22 years old and the man was 68. Both were Saudi citizens. Among the two men who tested positive for MERS are a 33-year-old expatriate and a 60-year-old Saudi, the ministry said.

Twenty-three patients are currently being treated for the MERS infection in different parts of the Kingdom, it said.

The ministry has warned people in Al-Qassim, which includes Hail and Buraidah and reported several cases during this week, to take precautions. It has urged all hospitals in the region to be vigilant about the spread of the virus.

Food hygiene practices should be observed, the ministry said. People should avoid drinking raw camel milk or eating meat that has not been properly cooked, it added.

The World Health Organization has urged health care workers to take standard precautions consistently with all patients, regardless of their diagnosis.