Officials Declare UAE Hospitals As MERS Free

The UAE’s ministry of health has said that all hospitals in the country are free from MERS coronavirus cases, official state news agency WAM reported.

According to Health Authority- Abu Dhabi (HAAD), all patients who were diagnosed with MERS have cleared the virus. The authority confirmed that there are no positive cases currently in hospitals across Abu Dhabi.

Most of MERS cases in the UAE were found in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, according to official reports.

HAAD also said that it is coordinating with health authorities across the GCC to stem the spread of the virus, which has killed 30 per cent of those affected.

Saudi Arabia is the worst affected with almost 500 cases and a death toll of 175, has also seen a slowdown in new MERS cases following a sudden outbreak in April and May.

The Kingdom reported no new deaths due to MERS virus and discovered four additional cases this week, according to local media.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently said that the disease does not yet constitute a global public health emergency owing to a lack of evidence about sustained human-to-human transmission.

But the global health watchdog urged the affected countries to improve infection prevention and control to halt the spread of the disease.

Experts have also blamed the lack of cooperation from health officials in affected countries for fuelling the rise in MERS cases in the region.

MERS is a deadly cousin of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, which emerged in 2002 in China. The virus causes coughing, fever and fatal pneumonia among those affected.