Nine people have been infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) during the past eight days in Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Health said.

Nine people have been infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) during the past eight days in Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Health said.

A Saudi man, 75 years old, in Taif and a Saudi woman, 74 years, in al-Khorma are both in critical condition. The man caught the virus from direct contact with camels while the woman caught it from indirect contact with camels, the ministry said on its website.

On Saturday, the ministry said that in the past 24 hours, a Saudi woman, 70 years old, recovered in Buraidah. This brings the total number of recoveries to four.

Among those infected are two male expats in Jubail and Jeddah. One is 27 years old while the other is 48 years old. Both are in critical condition.

On Friday the ministry said that a Saudi male who is a 30 years old health care worker had caught the virus. His condition is stable and he caught the virus inside a health facility.

MERS-CoV has infected 1549 people in Saudi Arabia since 2012 and it has so far claimed the lives of 641 people.

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