A deadly respiratory coronavirus, which has hit Saudi Arabia, has now claimed the lives of 16 individuals, the ministry said in a statement published on Monday.

"One of the patients who had contracted the virus has died," it stated.

Statistics reveal that on May 14, a total of 30 people were infected by the SARS-like virus, and 15 of them had already died.

Also known as nCoV-EMC, this novel coronavirus is a cousin of the SARS virus, and first emerged in the Middle East. New cases have been reported in Germany, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, Qatar and Britain, and health officials claim that this infection may have already spread in people in some circumstances.

On Wednesday, the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) reported that two Saudi Arabian workers seem to have contracted this virus, which may be the first evidence of transmission of this virus in a hospital setting.

"This is the first time health care workers have been diagnosed with nCoV (novel coronavirus) infection after exposure to patients," the WHO says in a statement.

Effective measures are being undertaken to find out exactly how humans are contacting this virus, and what steps can be taken to prevent and treat it. However, the number of cases suggests that this may not be an epidemic similar to that of SARS in the year 2003, which claimed the lives of over 800 people.

Since this novel coronavirus is closely related to a bat virus, studies are currently being carried out to detect if animals like bats and goats are a possible source of infection.

Meanwhile, WHO has suggested people having symptoms similar to that of pneumonia to get tested for this virus.