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Camel from Jeddah tests positive for MERS virus

November 12, 2013

Camel_from_JeddahRiyadh, Nov 12: A camel from a Jeddah farm has tested positive for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the first case of an animal infected with the coronavirus that has killed 64 people worldwide, the Ministry of Health said Monday.

A ministry statement carried by Saudi Press Agency said the camel “tested positive in preliminary laboratory checks.”

The ministry said it was working with the ministry of agriculture and laboratories to “isolate the virus and compare its genetic structure with that of the patient’s.”

If the virus carried by the camel and that of the patient “prove to be identical, this would be a first scientific discovery worldwide, and a door to identify the source of the virus,” it added.

Experts are struggling to understand MERS, which is so-called because all of the victims were either from the Middle East or have been in contact with someone from the region.

It is considered a deadlier but less-transmissible cousin of the SARS virus that erupted in Asia in 2003 and infected 8,273 people, nine percent of whom died.

In August, researchers pointed to Arabian camels as possible hosts of the virus, which has hit hardest in Saudi Arabia, where 53 people have died from the disease since it appeared in September 2012.

Like SARS, MERS appears to cause a lung infection, with patients suffering from a temperature, cough and breathing difficulty.

But it differs in that it also causes rapid kidney failure and the extremely high death rate has caused serious concern.

In other Gulf countries two fatalities from the MERS virus have been registered in Qatar, as well as one announced on Sunday by Oman.

The World Health Organization said on its website on Monday that it has been informed of 153 laboratory-confirmed cases of the MERS infection worldwide so far, including 64 deaths.

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Agencies
May 28,2020

Sharjah, May 28: The Ministry of Interior has warned the public against visiting wadis during bad weather conditions, including rainy seasons, to avoid the risk of getting caught in flash floods that could endanger their lives.

A video posted on its official Instagram account depicted several such incidents involving cars being swept away by floods.

The warning comes after four people were found dead this week in Sharjah's Wadi Al Helo, an area hit by floods during heavy rains that lashed the emirate, authorities said.

The National Search and Rescue Centre (NSRC) found the bodies as it conducted an operation to look for seven people who were reported missing amid the unstable weather conditions.

In a separate incident yesterday, 20 passengers of a bus that got stuck in Wadi Hatta's Umm Al Nosor area in Dubai were also rescued by police after their vehicle was swept away by floods.

The ministry urged the public to follow the directives issued for their own safety.

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News Network
March 24,2020

Riyadh, Mar 24: General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) on Tuesday asked all expatriates in the Kingdom, who have a final exit visa or an exit and reentry visa, to quickly cancel them before their expiry. This is to avoid the prescribed fines for not availing of these visas before their expiry date, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The new measure was taken following the Saudi government’s suspension of international flights as part of the preventive and precautionary measures to stem the spread of new coronavirus. The Jawazat asked expatriates to verify the validity of such visas and cancel them through Ministry of Interior’s electronic service portals of Absher or Muqeem.

It underlined the need to adhere to the regulations and instructions in order to avoid fines prescribed by law against the violators.

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KAJOOR MOHAMME…
 - 
Tuesday, 24 Mar 2020

My reentry expair date 26-03-2020 plz help me

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Dubai, Jul 28: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) (ADCB.AD) is letting go hundreds of employees, sources said, the latest in a round of lay-offs by regional banks as pressure mounts to cut costs amid lower oil prices and the coronavirus crisis.

The UAE’s third-biggest lender is laying off 400 employees, two sources familiar with the matter said, after it had committed to not cutting staff because of the crisis.

In a statement, a spokesman said ADCB had pursued efficiency over the last decade by managing out its lowest underachievers after regular reviews, while ensuring talent was deployed in high-growth areas, such as digital banking.

“A certain number of redundancies are therefore expected every year in the normal course of business,” the bank spokesman added.

The sources said the cuts would involve ADCB’s consumer business and several in top management were among those being let go. One source said the bank was looking to close 20 branches.

In March, ADCB had declared, “No employee will be made redundant during 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

UAE banks have been hit by government measures to rein in the spread of the virus, forcing many businesses to shut temporarily.

Last week, Dubai’s largest bank, Emirates NBD, reported a slump of 58% in profits. In June, sources told Reuters the bank started a new round of hundreds of lay-offs.

In May, ADCB reported a fall of 84% in first-quarter net profit as it took impairments of $292 million on debt exposure to troubled hospital operator NMC Health and payments group Finablr.

It was a major lender, with an exposure of about $981 million, to NMC Health, which went into administration this year after months of turmoil following questions over financial reporting.

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