At least 132 people are dead and more than 6,000 cases have been confirmed in mainland China, according to a report by CNN. The deadly Wuhan coronavirus continues to spreads across Asia and the rest of the world and as per the latest news, it hits the Middle East.

A four-member Chinese family infected with the new coronavirus is the first confirmed case in the UAE, the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) revealed on Wednesday, as quoted by the Khaleej Times.

On 31 December 2019, WHO was alerted to several cases of pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. The virus did not match any other known virus. This raised concern because when a virus is new, we do not know how it affects people.

One week later, on 7 January, Chinese authorities confirmed that they had identified a new virus. The new virus is a coronavirus, which is a family of viruses that include the common cold, and viruses such as SARS and MERS. This new virus was temporarily named “2019-nCoV.”

No Coronavirus in Qatar: Ministry of Public Health

The Ministry of Public Health confirmed yesterday that no cases of new Coronavirus have been detected in the country. The Ministry called on the public not to pay attention to any information not issued by the competent authorities, and the necessity of taking information from its official reliable sources.

MOPH issues precautionary measures

he Ministry of Public Health announced Wednesday that it has taken all necessary precautionary measures to cope with the new coronavirus which appeared in China and spread to several countries.

The committee issued precautionary recommendations that included raising the alert level of the monitoring system and watching out the suspected cases at the local and global levels in coordination with the World Health Organization.

The Ministry of Public Health also issued national guidelines for dealing with new cases of coronavirus, with alerting all hospitals in the country to report any suspected respiratory infections, especially of travelers returning from the affected countries in a 14-day period of their arrival. The rapid response team at the Ministry of Public Health operates around the clock. The teams' hotline numbers are 66740948 and 66740951.

Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) advice for the public from WHO

WHO’s standard recommendations for the general public to reduce exposure to and transmission of a range of illnesses are as follows, which include hand and respiratory hygiene, and safe food practices:

• Frequently clean hands by using alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water;
• When coughing and sneezing cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – throw tissue away immediately and wash hands;
• Avoid close contact with anyone who has fever and cough;
• If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing seek medical care early and share previous travel history with your health care provider;
• When visiting live markets in areas currently experiencing cases of novel coronavirus, avoid direct unprotected contact with live animals and surfaces in contact with animals;
• The consumption of raw or undercooked animal products should be avoided. Raw meat, milk or animal organs should be handled with care, to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods, as per good food safety practices.

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Khadiza Begum

Content Writer

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