Head of the emergency unit at Beirut's Hotel Dieu Hospital Antoine al-Zoghbi denied on Wednesday media reports stating that a case of the coronavirus was diagnosed at the hospital.
The reports had said that a Saudi was taken to the aforementioned facility in Ashrafieh for contracting the
MERS coronavirus.
The quarantine center at the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport also denied receiving any cases of the deadly virus.
The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome is considered a deadlier cousin of the SARS virus that emerged in Asia in 2003 and infected 8,273 people, nine percent of whom died.
MERS emerged in 2012 and is mostly found in Saudi Arabia, where it has killed 115 people so far, according to health officials there.
Saudi Arabia has witnessed a jump in the rate of infection with the virus in recent weeks, with many of the new cases recorded in Jeddah, the kingdom's second largest city.
The surge in Saudi cases is of particular concern as the country is expected to see a large influx of pilgrims from around the world in July during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, followed in early October by the arrival of millions of people to perform the annual pilgrimage in Mecca and Medina.
The spread of new infections slowed during the winter, but there has been a sudden increase in cases last month.
On April 21, Saudi Arabian King Abdullah replaced the country's health minister amid growing public disquiet at the spread of the disease.
The authorities have at times struggled to counter swirling rumors on social media that they have not been transparent about how far the disease has spread and how effective the preventative measures taken in hospitals truly are.
Countries in the region, including Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Tunisia, as well as several countries in Europe have also reported MERS cases since the virus emerged. On Monday, Egypt said it was investigating whether a 60-year-old woman had died of MERS.
Last week, the United States said it had its first confirmed case of the disease in a man who had been a healthcare worker in Saudi Arabia.
LBCI/REUTERS
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