Saudi imposes curfew to curb coronavirus unfold, UAE suspends passengers flights
Saudi Arabia will impose a national curfew beginning on Monday after reporting a leap of just about 1 / 4 in coronavirus instances, whilst the United Arab Emirates will droop all passenger and transit flights to and from the rustic.
Saudi King Salman ordered a curfew – from 7 pm to 6 am for 21 days – to sluggish the unfold of the coronavirus, state information company SPA reported on Monday. The curfew will take impact on Monday night time.
The UAE stated it is going to droop all passenger and transit flights to and from the rustic for 2 weeks over coronavirus fears, state information company WAM stated on Monday. Shipment operations will proceed.
The UAE’s ministry of well being has made up our minds to shut buying groceries and business centres, leaving open pharmacies and supermarkets, together with fish, greens and meat markets coping with wholesalers, WAM reported. It’ll prohibit eating places to supply services and products.
WAM stated the closures will take impact in 48 hours and can closing for 2 weeks, matter to evaluate and analysis.
The UAE has steered the general public to keep at house with the exception of in instances of necessity, together with getting provides, similar to meals and medication, or appearing very important jobs, WAM stated.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia recorded 119 new instances of the virus for a complete of 511, easiest within the Gulf Arab area, the Well being Ministry stated.
The tally of instances within the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council now stands at greater than 1,700. Bahrain reported a 2nd demise on Sunday, a citizen evacuated from Iran, taking the GCC’s general deaths to 4.
The area has expanded measures to fight the unfold of the illness. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have taken probably the most maximum drastic steps together with halting global flights, postponing paintings at maximum establishments and shutting public venues.
Gulf governments have additionally introduced stimulus applications to defend their energy-producing economies, that have been hit through a cave in in oil costs. [O/R]
The UAE, the area’s tourism and industry hub, licensed an extra 16 billion dirhams ($four.four billion) on Sunday for a complete stimulus bundle of 126 billion dirhams, in accordance to a tweet from its vice chairman, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai.
The tourism and hospitality sector in Dubai, the area’s maximum varied financial system, has been hit laborious through the disruption to world shuttle.
Emirates, based totally out of Dubai and one of the crucial international’s greatest airways, stated on Sunday it will droop passenger operations – except for repatriation flights to 13 nations – through Wednesday.
