There has been a resurgence of COVID-19 and a rapid increase in the number of daily COVID cases over the past few weeks. Saudi Arabia has banned its citizens from traveling to sixteen countries, including India, in view of the ever-increasing corona cases worldwide. Let us inform that today more than 2000 cases of corona have been reported in the country for the fourth consecutive day. What is worrying is that the death toll has increased by more than two and a half times.
According to the news of Gulf News, citizens of Saudi Arabia have been banned from traveling to these sixteen countries including India. These countries include Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Indonesia, Vietnam, Armenia, Belarus and Venezuela.
Additional Information
Furthermore, the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia has assured the public that zero monkeypox cases have been detected in the country. Deputy Health Minister Abdullah Asiri has said that the Kingdom has the capacity to monitor and search for any suspected monkeypox cases and also to fight the infection if a new case emerges. He said, “So far, cases of transmission between humans have been very limited, and therefore the chances of any outbreaks are very low, even in countries where cases have been detected.
Saudi Arabia’s General Department of Passports dropped several Covid-19 restrictions towards the end of last year but are now reimposing some of them as Covid-19 cases are being reported from various parts of the world and China and North Korea bearing the brunt of the Omicron variant which is leading to fresh cases.
However, people entering Saudi Arabia no longer have to be quarantined but they will require health insurance.
The nation has also lifted its restrictions on Angola, Malawi and Ethiopia along with several other countries.
Recent cases in Saudi Arab
Saudi Arabia detected 467 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday which took the tally of cases to 763,042.
More than 9,100 people have died due to Covid in Saudi Arabia.
The active cases tally is above 6,400.
Two people died on Sunday due to Covid. More than 70% of the population were vaccinated with
two Covid vaccines as of May 15.
Saudi’s health ministry told the citizens that the nation has not detected any monkeypox cases in the country.
Dr. Abdullah Asiri, deputy minister of health for preventive health, told the media that the Saudi healthcare sector can monitor and discover suspected cases of ‘monkeypox’ and fight the infection.
“There is a standard definition of suspected cases and the way to confirm them and monitoring and diagnosis methods are available in the laboratories of the Kingdom. Until now, cases of transmission between humans are very limited, and therefore the possibility of any outbreaks occurring from it, even in countries that have detected cases, are very low,” Asiri was quoted as saying by news agency Al Arabiya.
International closures
Despite worldwide COVID cases seeing a decline and many nations reopening up for travel, strict border measures remain in place for several countries, including China, Japan, and Taiwan.
In its fight to achieve its “Zero COVID” goal, China has notably kept its doors shut to almost all international travelers, causing severe disruption across the Eastern aviation industry.
Once one of the busiest cargo and passenger hubs worldwide, the tightening of China’s air border saw Hong Kong International Airport’s yearly passenger figures drop to less than 6 million in 2021, lower than 2019’s monthly averages. Hong Kong is an outlier, with incoming passengers from certain countries able to enter, providing they are vaccinated, take a test on arrival, and are willing to quarantine for seven days regardless of a negative result.
World From Officials
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed 80 cases of monkeypox in 11 countries and said they are working to better understand the cause of the outbreak. In a statement issued on Friday, the WHO said the virus is endemic in certain animal populations in many countries, causing occasional outbreaks among locals and travelers.
