Swine flu: Death toll in Saudi Arabia rises to 11
Reported August 13, 2009
Dubai: Two more swine flu deaths have been reported in Saudi Arabia, taking the death toll by the deadly disease to 11, health officials have said.
The latest deaths were reported from Riyadh and Abha, Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Al-Mirghalani said, adding one of the deceased had heart problems while the other was old, an Arab News reported today.
Meanwhile, Kuwait has planned to identify a number of schools throughout the country for providing potential shelters in case of a swine flu outbreak.
The starting date for next academic year has however not been postponed.
Teams have also been set in cooperation with the country’s Ministry of Health for providing necessary medical equipments to the schools and ensuring that infected students receive immediate medical attention.
In Qatar, senior health officials have reassured residents that there was no real community transmission of swine flu while asking rumour mongers to stop spreading false news.
On the other hand, the UAE’s Ministry of Health recently announced that more than 600,000 schoolchildren are to be inoculated against swine flu once the vaccine is ready, which is expected to be by late September.
Vaccination against the H1N1 virus will be mandatory for all public and private schoolchildren aged five and up, the Ministry said.
