Medan, NU Online
Dozens of residents from Medan, North Sumatra, and its surrounding areas on Wednesday canceled their minor haj trips to Saudi Arabia, following reports that the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) had caused one death in the province.<>
The pilgrims said they were afraid of being infected with the MERS virus, which has no proven cure or effective treatment.
Ngatimah Sipahutar, a local resident from Padang Bulan, Medan, said she was scheduled to depart for the minor haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia on Friday. However, she decided to cancel her trip as she was worried about MERS.
Sartimah, another resident from Medan, also said she had canceled a pilgrimage with her family due to fears over MERS . She was scheduled to depart for Saudi Arabia via Siar Tour travel agent, on Friday.
Alam Ria Asmardy of Siar Tour said recent reports on the spread of MERS had negatively affected business. He said many pilgrims had postponed and even canceled their trips to Saudi Arabia.
On Wednesday, a 55-year-old man from Tanjung Morawa, identified only as SPJ, was referred to Adam Malik Hospital, Medan, for having MERS-like symptoms after he came back from minor haj on Monday.
Two days earlier, another pilgrim identified only by her initials SHN, 50, was also referred to the hospital for allegedly contracting the MERS virus.
Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq
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