Another three people have died in Saudi Arabia after contracting the MERS coronavirus, the health ministry said yesterday, bringing the kingdom's total fatalities of the SARS-like virus to 47.

Saudi Arabia is the country worst hit by MERS, which has killed 47 in the kingdom. Authorities have urged the elderly and chronically ill Muslims to avoid the hajj this year and have cut back on the numbers of people they will allow to perform the pilgrimage.