The infected Indian nurse in Saudi Arabia indeed caught coronavirus. However, it was MERS. (Image via Siasat)

Suspecting coronavirus, Indian nurse in Saudi catches MERS instead

On Friday, an Indian nurse in a hospital in Aseer, Saudi Arabia was treated after showing symptoms of the new type coronavirus. However, instead of mysterious pneumonia breaking out from Wuhan, the Indian nurse contracted MERS.

It was later clarified by the Saudi Centre for Disease Prevention and Control that the nurse was infected by MERS-CoV virus, not the 2019-NCoV virus.

Since the statement was made by India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan, the false alarm caused quite a commotion in Saudi Arabia. Muraleedharan mistook the virus that caused the sickness as the virus in Wuhan.

The Indian nurse, whose identity remains anonymous, is one of 100 Indian nurses working in Saudi Arabia. Allegedly, she was affected by her coworker from the Philippines.

Spreading since early January, Wuhan coronavirus had infected more than 500 people, and 25 people infected by mysterious pneumonia reportedly died. Nonetheless, the World Health Organization (WHO) does not want to declare a state of emergency yet.

The reason was that there were limited cases outside China. The virus had already spread to Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, and even the United States (U.S).

Source: https://bit.ly/2NU7btq