Via Arab News, a confusing September 12 report: MERS alert tightened as 100th case emerges. Excerpt:
In Madinah, the victims included a 22-year-old male citizen who was in contact with a MERS patient and a 24-year-old male citizen working in the health sector in Madinah.
In Riyadh, two Saudi men, 60 and 47 years of age, had contracted the virus from MERS patients.
Dr. Ziad Al-Memish, undersecretary to the Ministry of Health for Public Health, told Arab News that the ministry had already advised people who had contracted the virus to postpone their pilgrimage.
He said the ministry would keep the people informed of any new developments.I'm confused because many of the present cases are too sick to leave their hospitals, never mind going on Hajj. Does he mean people who have recovered? Does he think they might still be shedding virus—even the Jordanian healthcare workers who survived the first outbreak in 2012? Or does he expect MERS to appear among the faithful overseas—and if so, how would they manage to leave their beds and catch a plane?
I look forward to the reports of new developments, and would be grateful as well for more details on old developments.
