PILGRIMS SHOULD NOT BE TOO CONCERNED OVER MERS VIRUS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, May 15 (Antara) - Indonesian minor hajj (umrah) pilgrims to Saudi Arabia should not be overly worried about the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) in the Holy Land, yet they have to remain alert.          The government should also handle the MERS issue properly and wisely so that it will not cause concern or unrest among the people. Calls for umrah pilgrims to postpone departure to Saudi Arabia are appreciated, but the government should not issue a travel ban.          After all, Indonesia is still considered free from the virus and the World Health Organization has not yet issued such a recommendation.          What is important is that the government is active in raising the awareness of the people so that they will remain careful and alert.          "There is no need to worry and pilgrims need not be overly afraid of the MERS issue. What they need to do is remain alert and assume healthy ways of life," Baluki Ahmad, chairman of the Indonesian Umrah Hajj Pilgrimage Organizations Association (Himpuh) said on Wednesday.          Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi said previously Indonesia is still free from the MERS virus until now, which had spread in Saudi Arabia from Jidda to Mecca, Medina. The virus has also reportedly been detected in 15 countries.

INDONESIA YET TO DETECT MERS VIRUS AT HOME

By Andi Abdussalam
Jakarta, May 9 (Antara) - Indonesian health officials have not detected any MERS virus infection cases in the country but have advised the elderly and other risky people to delay trips to Saudi Arabia, where the virus has broken out.          "The samples that we had tested in the laboratories until Thursday (May 8) were negative for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus, though we are still waiting for the results of other samples," Health Deputy Minister Ali Ghufron Mukti reported here on Friday.          Several patients in Medan, North Sumatra, and Pekanbaru, Riau, were suspected to have contracted the MERS virus. They suffered from MERS infection-like symptoms, such as high fever, cold, cough, and difficulty in breathing.          They were admitted to the hospital after their return from a minor hajj pilgrimage (umroh) to Saudi Arabia. One of these, a 54-year-old patient, KS, died at a general hospital in Medan on Tuesday.

INDONESIANS WARNED ABOUT MERS VIRUS INFECTION

By Andi Abdussalam
Jakarta, May 7 (Antara) - Indonesian minor Hajj pilgrims and the migrant workers in the Middle East countries have been warned about the deadly MERS-CoV virus that has infected over 400 people and killed 100 of them in Saudi Arabia.          Eighteen more people in Saudi Arabia have contracted the potentially deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), bringing the total number of cases in the kingdom to 414, more than a quarter of whom have died,  Saudi Arabia Health Ministry was quoted as saying by Reuters on Monday.          Several patients in Sumatra who had returned from the minor Hajj (Umroh) pilgrimage are showing symptoms similar to those of MERS Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) and one of them died on Tuesday.          Medan City Acting Mayor Dzulmi Eldin on Wednesday called on the people to remain alert about the spread of MERS-CoV. He appealed to the travel agencies organizing Hajj pilgrimage to check the health of their pilgrims at least two weeks before their departure.          He added that the travel bureaus needed to conduct health check-ups to prevent the spread of MERS-CoV, which was firstly reported in Saudi Arabia and has spread to Medan, the provincial capital of North Sumatra.