Vigilance on new virus

The Beijing municipal health commission asked all local hospitals to monitor pneumonia patients to rule out the possibility of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) that is currently spreading worldwide, the Beijing News reports.

As of early June, there were 51 MERS-CoV cases and 33 deaths reported worldwide; the number of patients continues to increase. Beijing has established a special team of experts to offer assistance to doctors and all relevant reports will be published online.