MERS center to combat deadly virus

The Kingdom has moved to combat the MERS-CoV virus by setting up a new coronavirus center and introducing a package of measures, acting Health Minister Adel Fakeih said. This comes as part of the ongoing measures adopted to fight the deadly disease.
“The center with this new package of measures will assist the Health Ministry to upgrade the existing preventative procedures against the spread of infection while simultaneously increasing the readiness within the health sector to deal with future challenges,” Fakeih said.
“This process will ensure that the health sector across the Kingdom is works in accordance with the latest international best practice guidelines to protect patients and the public,” he added.
The new center will consist of a control tower; cross-ministry coordination; a scientific committee, a scientific advisory board, epidemiology support; infection prevention and control, capacity building; clinical operations; data and analytics, communications and labs and diagnostics. The personnel will include scientists, clinicians and researchers, among others.
The measures include the issuance of stringent guidelines for infection control based on a new case definition and assigning a specialized unit which will oversee rapid response policies across the Kingdom.
Also these measures include putting in place a system to review the current capability and capacity within health care facilities in the Kingdom, and shining a light on previous cases to ensure full transparency.