MERS deaths in Saudi Arabia surpass 100

JEDDAH: The MERS death toll in Saudi Arabia topped 100 on Sunday (Monday in Manila) as authorities scrambled to reassure an increasingly edgy population in the country worst-hit by the infectious coronavirus.

Public fears have been fueled by a rapid rise in the number of fatalities from the respiratory infection, with 39 people dying this month—well over a third of the 102 deaths registered since the virus emerged in April 2012.