Riyadh, Aug 25, (IANS): Saudi Arabia on Tuesday confirmed seven more deaths from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus in the capital Riyadh, taking the toll to 498 in the oil-rich kingdom.
The Saudi health ministry said in a statement that seven new infections from the virus have been identified in Riyadh, Xinhua reported.
Earlier, the ministry confirmed that 49 people were infected with the virus in a week ending on August 22.
Saudi Arabia has identified 1,162 infections from the virus since its appearance in the kingdom in 2012.
The MERS virus can cause symptoms such as fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure.