Businessmen made aware of coronavirus threat

Saudi businessmen were advised to avoid visiting crowded places and hospitals with MERS patients during a presentation held recently at the headquarters of the Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC) in Riyadh.
Sponsored by the CSC, the MERS awareness program was launched in cooperation with Bupa Arabia.
Bupa Arabia provides health insurance in accordance with the requirements of the Council of Cooperative Health Insurance and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA).
Hisham Hussein from Bupa described the coronavirus as a mysterious virus that belongs to the same group as the SARS virus that spread several years ago.
The fatal virus could lead to kidney failure and other organ damage, he said.
“We advise residents to avoid crowded areas, especially hospitals, and to maintain good hygiene standards,” he said.
“The virus has a bigger impact on people with weak immune systems,” he said. “Quarantine periods for the virus vary from one to two weeks.”
An official from the CSC said that the program is part of the council’s keenness to implement social responsibility programs aimed at raising awareness of the threat posed by the disease and preventive measure that can be taken to curb its spread.
An Asian embassy in Riyadh that was to hold its annual cultural gathering at its mission’s premises this week, canceled its program due to concerns about the spread of the virus.
Sources at the mission said that the cancellation was taken as a precautionary measure since people from all walks of life and from different parts of the central region would be confined to a small space in close proximity with one another.