Saudi hospital closes emergency department after virus strikes 11

A hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has closed its emergency department after 11 health workers fell ill with the MERS coronavirus, according to a media report.

Saudi newspaper reported that one of the staff of the King Abdel-Aziz Hospital was in a critical condition, the Al-Madina newspaper said, quoting unnamed officials at the hospital.

Saudi authorities Monday announced that four new cases of the flu-like syndrome, which can lead to kidney failure and severe pneumonia, had been identified in the Jeddah region within 24 hours.

The World Health Organization said in late March that the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases of the MERS coronavirus since September 2012 stood at 206, including 86 deaths. Most cases have been reported in Saudi Arabia, with smaller concentrations in other Gulf countries.

There have also been cases in Europe and North Africa linked to travellers returning from the region. Around 800 people died of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), also a form of coronavirus, ten years ago.