27 Apr 2014   10:50:23 AM   Sunday BdST

Alarming coronavirus

MERS kills a Bangladeshi in Saudi

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News Desk

DHAKA: A 40-year-old Bangladeshi woman died from the MERS coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, says Health Ministry of the country.

The identity of the deceased could not be known immediately.

The Health Ministry announced on Saturday seven new deaths from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, taking the country’s death toll to 94.

A statement said that 24 new cases of MERS were detected in the Kingdom, bringing the total to 323 since the virus first emerged there in September 2012.

Among the five who died were two elderly Palestinians and a Bangladeshi woman in her 40s, the statement said. The two other victims were Saudis.

Meanwhile, the ministry has declared three medical centers in Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province as specialist centers for the MERS treatment, said Acting Health Minister Adel Fakeih in a statement on Saturday.

The King Abdullah Medical Complex in Jeddah, with its advanced medical facilities, will be a major hub for dealing with the coronavirus.

Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Hospital in Riyadh and the Dammam Medical Complex will also be used for this purpose, Fakeih said.