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SAUDI Arabia prohibits foreign workers from 20 countries including Indonesia from entering the country to control the spread of the Corona virus (COVID-19).
The exceptions to the ban, which took effect from 9 p.m. local time today, are diplomats and medical staff and their families, as quoted by ArabNews.com, Wednesday (3/2).
Apart from Indonesia, flights that carry expatriates will be banned from the UAE, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, US, UK, Germany, France and Italy. Apart from that, also from Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, India, Pakistan, and Japan.
The ban also applies to travelers transiting through any of the 20 countries in the 14 days prior to a planned visit to that State. Many passengers use Dubai as a transit hub from countries that do not have direct flights to Saudi Arabia. However, that option is no longer available now.
This new action comes amid a spike in global COVID-19 cases and is related to the mutation of the Corona virus. This type of virus was first detected in Britain, South Africa and Brazil. On the other hand, there are concerns that vaccines launched around the world may be less effective against it.
Britain began door-to-door testing of 80,000 people on Tuesday in a bid to contain the spread of the highly contagious South African variant. In Sweden there has been an increase in the spread of British variants.
Health officials in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia warned this week that stricter measures will be needed to curb the spread of the virus if the public continues to undermine regulations on social distancing and a ban on large gatherings.
Saudi Arabia reported 310 new cases of COVID-19 today or nearly four times the number a month ago. Flights to and from the kingdom were first suspended on March 14, 2020, two weeks after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. [antaranews/photo special]
