Ministry: Butchers, cooks more likely to contract coronavirus

JEDDAH: A senior Health Ministry official said butchers and cooks are more likely to be infected with the coronavirus because they handle and process camel meat.
Dr. Abdul Aziz bin Saeed, undersecretary at the Ministry of Health for Public Health, said the return of the virus during this past period was because of the Umrah season and holidays, when people have moved around from one region to another.
“The Ministry of Health is working with its partners, mainly citizens and the Ministries of Agriculture, and Municipal and Rural Affairs to spread the culture of prevention against the virus among citizens and how to prevent its spread,” he was quoted as saying to a local publication.
He said the role of the Health Ministry comes after the infection which involves administering the right treatments and medicines to the infected, including isolation and quarantine.
As for the upcoming Haj season and Eid Al-Adha, the undersecretary said the ministry is working through the joint committee with other related parties to contain and prevent the spread of the virus, and raise awareness among pilgrims on its prevention.
The Ministry of Health revealed through its control and command center an increase of 7.4 percent in the number of inflected people of the virus since April 2015, from 977 to 1055 people according to the latest statistics from the ministry. Statistics also showed also an increase in the number of cured patients by 7 percent, from 532 cured cases in April to 581 cases.
The ministry recently recorded the infection of a new case in a 54-year-old expatriate in Riyadh, but did not record any new deaths or newly cured cases.