actually the real danger is our OFW...especially our nurses and doctors who work in Saudi.
On Thursday, the Saudi Arabian health ministry confirmed 13 more cases of patients contracting MERS-CoV, the acronym for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, as well as two more deaths. MERS-CoV is an infectious disease with no known cure and is considered more deadly than SARS--which killed some 800 people during a 2002-2003 outbreak that first started in China. Since 2012, 83 people have died and 285 people have contracted the virus in the Kingdom alone. It has spread to the neighboring United Arab Emirates. Reports also suggest pilgrims from as far afield as Malaysia and the Philippines contracted the virus while on hajj in Mecca.
Filipino health authorities also are increasingly concerned about the virus spreading there, with a significant number of its citizens working in the Gulf and potentially carrying the disease when they travel home.
It has boosted screening for the virus at airports.
“It is important that families, friends and members of their local communities fully understand all that must be known about the MERS coronavirus,” Filippino Health Secretary Enrique Ona said on Saturday.
Of course, if it does spread via the Hajj everyone is in real trouble.
There is a minor scandal brewing in Saudi about this...more HERE
And one OFW came here with it from Saudi so they are testing everyone on the plane with her and plan to screen everyone at the airport for fevers.
It's a real worry here because we have so many OFW in the Middle East, including many health care workers who might be in contact with the virus.
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