RIYADH – Saudi Arabia on Friday said it would focus on the safety of school children to check the spread of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus.
The Saudi Minister of Health, Adel Fakeih, made the disclosure in a meeting with concerned organisations in Riyadh.
According to him, there should be cooperation with the education ministry to enhance safety among students and teachers to avoid the spread of the virus in schools.
This comes as precautionary measure as the education ministry announced that all education institutions are free and there is no need to shut them.
Saudi Arabia announces new cases almost every day.
Seven new cases were reported on Friday, while 10 were reported on Thursday, putting the total cases of MERS coronavirus to 378, including 107 deaths since 2012.
The health minister said during the meeting that a nation-wide campaign would be launched to highlight to the public how to protect themselves from the infection.
Earlier, the health ministry had recommended to the Hajj ministry to ban the elderly, pregnant women and people with chronic disease from performing Hajj and Omra this year. (Xinhua/NAN)
