A woman wearing a face mask is seen on a bus amid the novel coronavirus outbreak in Tehran, Iran, on March 2, 2020.(Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua)

The Middle East is facing a harsher situation with COVID-19 than previously with MERS, experts said, as countries weigh China's experience and policies.

MERS is different from COVID-19, Egyptian virologist Ali Mohamed Zaki told the Global Times on Sunday. 

"The MERS virus was diagnosed before any outbreak," said Zaki, who discovered the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus.

"Diagnostic kits and the intermediate host were identified early before the outbreak in 2014 and 2015," he said. 

MERS is not transmitted as easily as COVID-19, he noted.

The main problem for the Middle East was resources such as diagnostic kits and personal protective equipment for medical workers, he said. Most countries import medical supplies from abroad, he noted.

"COVID-19 virus may stay with us forever as a simple common cold virus," he said, "like other coronaviruses including the OC43 and 229E."

Policies are tightening in Middle East countries. 

The United Arab Emirates announced on Saturday a suspension of issuing visas starting from Tuesday. Saudi Arabia has suspended all international flights, media reported.

Iran is fighting one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks. The country on Sunday reported 113 new deaths in the past 24 hours. A total of 13,938 people have been confirmed in Iran with the virus, and 724 dead, Reuters reported. 

"Compared with MERS in 2015, this time the magnitude of the epidemic is greater and the infection rate is higher," a Tehran-based Chinese specializing in traditional Chinese medicine, told the Global Times on Sunday. "I have been here for almost two decades and this is the most serious epidemic crisis."

A Chinese medical team dispatched to Iran has shared China's experience in tackling the epidemic. For instance, Iran has promoted home isolation, a travel ban, canceling large gatherings and building makeshift hospitals, Chinas state broadcaster China Central Television reported on Saturday.

Iran's army said Friday they would start vacating streets, roads and shopping centers of the unnecessary presence of people.

Zaki believed that the lockdown learned from China may prevent the spread of the infection and decrease the burden on the healthcare system by lowering the epidemic peak. "I will be asking Chinese scientists when the lockdown is over if there is a second wave of cases," he said

China had a great healthcare system prepared for the outbreak by SARS, he noted. "We learn from the China experience."