New virus no threat to Hajis

RIYADH: Health authorities downplayed yesterday the impact of a possible outbreak of a virus from the family of deadly SARS on forthcoming Haj, stressing that the cases remain rare.
“There have been two cases of flu over a period of time. This is normal,” said ministry spokesman Khaled Al-Mirghalani.
“There are no changes to the conditions put by the Health Ministry to pilgrims,” he said, adding that authorities remain vigilant.
The undersecretary for preventive medicine at the ministry, Ziyad Memish, said the “virus has been in the Kingdom for three months.”
He, however, insisted the situation was “stable and no new cases have been recorded.”
Memish said the kingdom is not planning to impose new preventive measures on pilgrims.