The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday confirmed the first cases in the Middle East of the new coronavirus, saying doctors were treating four members of a Chinese family that had come from China's central city of Wuhan.
Those diagnosed with the virus were in “stable condition and under medical observation,” the Health and Prevention Ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency WAM.
Major UAE airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi last week said passengers arriving from China would be screened on arrival, a precaution taken by airports elsewhere.
Wuhan is the epicenter of the outbreak of the coronavirus that causes flu-like symptoms such as cough and fever and in severe cases pneumonia.
Emirati officials are taking "all the necessary precautions in accordance with the scientific recommendations, conditions and standards approved by the World Health Organization," the ministry said Wednesday. “The general health condition is not a cause for concern."
UAE’s health system "works very efficiently,” it said, adding "the ministry is closely following the situation in a way that guarantees the health and safety of everyone."
