Around 34,000 schools in Saudi Arabia will provide quarantine rooms on their premises for suspected Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) cases, following a directive from the Ministry of Education.

The preventive action will be implemented in coordination with the Health Ministry, an Arab News report said.

The plan also includes training school staff to deal with the virus cases and identify its symptoms, as well as take part in preventive measures, it said.

Suspected cases will be quarantined in these rooms until students are sent home or transferred to hospital.

The rooms will be equipped with preventive equipment, such as face masks, gloves and thermometers.