15 New Corona Cases Registered Last Week
A patient gets emergency medical care from Al Aqeeq general hospital. (SPA file photo)
The Health Ministry announced on Sunday that it registered 15 confirmed cases of coronavirus in various parts of the Kingdom during the week ending Saturday, March 14.
“The announcement comes as part of the transparent policies adopted by the ministry to keep the public informed on the latest developments of the disease,” the ministry said in its weekly update.
The ministry gave a breakdown on these cases. The ages of those infected ranged from 17-72, and the locations were Riyadh-10, Al-Ahsa-2, Jeddah, Qassim and Tabuk, 1 each. The nationalities of the infected were: 10 Saudis, 2 Sudanese, 1 Yemeni, 1 Filipino and 1 Egyptian.
Also, the ministry gave a breakdown on the sources of infection, saying that eight acquired it from the public; five at health care facilities — two of whom were health care workers; one from home infection; while one was still under investigation.
Eight cases were registered at Ministry of Health hospitals, three in university hospitals, two in private sector hospitals, one in a National Guard hospital, and one in a Ministry of Interior hospital.
The ministry said as part of its efforts to fight the virus, during the week, as commissioned by its Command and Control Center (CCC), ministry laboratories tested 2,036 samples from suspected cases.
Rapid intervention teams from the ministry conducted 48 site investigation visits during the week, and its preventive medicine surveillance teams visited 15 homes in which 101 suspected corona infections were listed and put under medical surveillance for the duration of the virus’ incubation period.
The ministry emphasized that the CCC is closely monitoring all governmental and private health care facilities, for compliance to infection control instructions and protocols set by the ministry as a measure of prevention of health care-acquired infection of the virus, while consulting and coordinating with other relevant government authorities and international health organizations.
Also, the ministry launched last week a new Kingdomwide comprehensive awareness campaign on protection from the virus. A wide range of modern awareness tools are being used, including pamphlets, role-playing activities at health care facilities, malls and assembly spots, and TV and radio broadcasts, social media and newspaper advertisements for the general public.
(Source: ArabNews.com)