ISTANBUL
A suspected Coronavirus patient forced a lockdown at an Istanbul hospital's emergency service for several hours Tuesday, health officials said.
The emergency service of the Eyup public hospital was quarantined after a 73 year-old woman coming back from Saudi Arabia exhibited Coronavirus symptoms. The woman came to the emergency department of the hospital Tuesday with complaints of high fever and nausea.
The woman was eventually isolated in a special ward at the hospital, and the service reopened. However, it was not immediately clear whether she was infected with the deadly virus.
The patient had just returned from a Hajj pilgrimage. Close contact is believed to be the way the disease is communicated.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, commonly known as Coronavirus, was first reported in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. It has been found in camels in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Egypt.
Because the disease posed a particular risk during the Hajj pilgrimage, Saudi Arabia said it had taken precautionary measures to prevent an outbreak.
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