Saudi Arabia suspends entry for non-citizens from 20 countries over coronavirus fears
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday banned expatriates from traveling to the Kingdom from 20 countries to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Exceptions to the ban, which begins at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, are diplomats, and medical staff, and their families.
Travel will be banned from the UAE, Egypt, Lebanon, and Turkey, as well as the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Japan.
The ban also applies to travelers; who transited through any of the 20 countries in the 14 days before a planned visit to the Kingdom. Many passengers had been using Dubai as a transit hub from countries; where there are no direct flights to Saudi Arabia, an option that is now no longer available.
Saudi Arabia extends ban on flights operation to May 17 https://t.co/H4V0nVX19n pic.twitter.com/Oot16vdTol
— 24 News HD (@24NewsHD) January 30, 2021
The new action comes amid a global surge in cases of COVID-19 linked to variations in the original coronavirus, first detected in England, South Africa, and Brazil, and fears that vaccines being rolled out worldwide may be less effective against them.
COVID-19 CASES
Health officials in the Kingdom warned this week; that stricter measures would be necessary to curb the spread of the virus; if the public continued to flout regulations on social distancing and a ban on large gatherings. The Ministry of Health confirmed 310 new confirmed cases reported in the Kingdom in the previous 24 hours, meaning 367,276 people have now contracted the disease. This is the highest number of cases recorded in more than two months
Of the total number of cases, 2,146 remain active and 375 in critical condition.
Last week, Saudi Arabia extended its travel-restriction period for local citizens; and shifted the date for reopening the Kingdom’s borders from March 31 to May 17; due to delays in the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines.
