The Health Ministry's Undersecretary Khaled Al-Sahlawi affirmed on Thursday that the ministry has not registered any new cases of the deadly MERS virus and is continuously working with neighbour regional health authorities to combat the disease.
"Only three persons tested positive for the virus in Kuwait before and these cases were reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) and posted on its website," he said of the disease, which is one of the strands of coronavirus.
Dr. Al-Sahlawi made the comments at a ceremony to honor head of the awareness committee on coronavirus Dr. Ghalia Al-Mutairi and member of the committee Dr. Malek Al-Nabhan for their efforts to promote awareness about the preventive measures.
"The fatality rate among MERS patients around the world ranges between 30 and 35 percent, or almost a third. This is the case in Kuwait as well as other parts of the world," he pointed out.
Dr. Al-Sahlawi voiced hope for discovering a vaccine against the fatal virus before the start of the Hajj (pilgrimage) season.
"Lab tests, being conducted on animals, show promise as the animals were responsive to the drugs but this process needs time to get the approval of the WHO before introducing the drugs to our countries," he explained. Dr. Al-Sahlawi noted that during his visit to Al-Jahra medical area yesterday he discussed with the medical officials there the possibility of launching a coronavirus lab at the biological lab of the area and launching an ICU.
On her part, Dr. Al-Mutairi thanked Minister of Health Dr. Ali Al-Obaidi for his support to the awareness committee.
"The committee is made up of 35 volunteers from university students who tour the health facilities countrywide and organize activities at the various colleges and institutes to raise public awareness about the virus and preventive actions," she said.
Dr. Al-Mutairi added that the committee plans to organize 25 lectures in collaboration with the ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs as part of the medical awareness campaign for pilgrims in the 'Umra' (minor pilgrimage) season in the Holy Month of Ramadan and the Hajj season.