At least another 46 people in Saudi Arabia contracted the potentially fatal Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in a Riyadh hospital, leading authorities to close the emergency ward, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
Hanan Balkhi of the health ministry said the infected patients include 15 hospital staff members. Another 20 people have shown symptoms and are being tested to see if they have contracted the disease, Balkhi said.
The ward will be closed for two weeks and other patients will be transferred to other hospitals.
The soaring number of MERS infections is a concern to the kingdom as it comes shortly before Muslims are traveling to the Saudi holy city of Mecca for the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
On Tuesday the health ministry said there have been 1,115 cases of MERS in the country, 590 of whom have recovered. Since 2012 480 people have died from the virus, most of them from Saudi Arabia, according to the AP.
Hajj is set to fall between Sept. 20 and Sept. 25 this year.
