The Saudi Ministry of Health has just announced 5 new deaths from the coronavirus. With the proliferation of cases in the West, the WHO recognizes that the situation is worsening.
Cases of patients infected with the novel coronavirus (MERS-CoV) are multiplying and the World Health Organization (WHO) is starting to worry about it. Indeed, on Wednesday, during an emergency meeting on the subject organized in Geneva (Switzerland), the WHO indicated that “the gravity of the situation had increased”, and requested that “information actions be intensified for health professionals but also the public to better control the infection ”.
New cases in Western countries
However, the Organization remains cautious since it did not consider it necessary to declare a “state of public health emergency of global concern”, in the absence of evidence of transmission of the virus from humans to humans. man. But it is clear that the cases of infected people are increasing. And this also in Western countries. A first case of the Middle East respiratory virus was indeed detected yesterday in the Netherlands. The man in question had traveled to Saudi Arabia, health officials said today. “He was infected during a visit to Saudi Arabia and is being treated at The Hague hospital,” the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) said in a statement. Since then, this subject has been kept in strict isolation. Still according to the RIVM, his condition is stable and the authorities are in contact with all the people who may have been in contact with the patient.
France increases its level of surveillance
In addition, still in the western part of the globe, US health authorities reported on Tuesday a third potential case of infection with the MERS coronavirus in the United States. This is a member of the hospital medical service who was treating the second patient to be infected in the country.
“Two of the twenty members of the medical team exposed to the patient have symptoms and one of them was admitted to the same hospital in Orlando, Florida, in stable condition,” said a spokesperson. Finally, Greece has also experienced a recent case.
Faced with this threat which is approaching France, the French authorities are also beginning to worry. Especially since the country also experienced two cases of infection last year and one death occurred. According to The Parisian, the French Ministry of Health would have recently decided to increase its level of vigilance. In addition to the precise monitoring of the number of international cases, the Directorate General for Health has defined “a protocol for the management of suspected cases”. A list of specialized services in certain hospitals has even been defined. Finally, cautionary advice has been given to people going to the Middle East, especially pilgrims who plan to visit Mecca in the coming weeks.
For its part, the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicates that “the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia advises against the elderly, those suffering from chronic diseases, pregnant women and children to make the small pilgrimage ( oumra) and the great pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca this year. Normal, because Saudi Arabia is by far the most affected country with 157 dead. Since September 2012, more than 500 cases of the MERS-CoV coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide.
.
