Mers cases in UAE not public health concern, health chiefs assure

The Health Authority Abu Dhabi (Haad) has moved to allay public fears about the spread of the Mers coronavirus.

The authority said that, together with the Ministry of Health, it was monitoring the situation very carefully.

Cases recorded in the UAE are not a public health concern, Haad said in a statement to Wam, the state news agency.

Three people who had been held in isolation in hospital have tested negative for the virus and will be discharged shortly.

The number of people who were tested for the virus and showed negative results has risen to 21.

Haad said that patients held in isolation on suspicion of infection “are mostly either well or have minimal symptoms and are expected to leave hospital soon”.

The Ministry of Health mentioned discussions it had with the World Health Organisation, which said the virus was not a concern for public health at the moment, and that the current situation did not require a travel ban to any country.

The announcement follows news from Saudi Arabia on April 27 on eight new deaths from the virus in Jeddah.

A total of 39 deaths had been recorded in Saudi Arabia last month, taking the death toll to 102 since the virus emerged in April 2012.

newsdesk@thenational.ae