Saudi Bans Entry to from 20 Countries, including Indonesia

Riyadh, MINA – Saudi Arabia temporarily prohibits entry of foreign nationals from 20 countries, including Indonesia to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The entry ban began on Wednesday at 21:00 local time.

Arab News reported on Tuesday, the policy does not apply to diplomats, citizens of Saudi Arabia, medical personnel, and their families.

The 20 prohibited countries are the UAE, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, America, Britain, France, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Japan, and Indonesia.

The ban does not only apply to citizens of these 20 countries. However, also for citizens who transited in one of the 20 countries in the 14 days prior to Saudi Arabia.

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The policy of Saudi Arabia was taken amid a spike in cases of the new Covid-19 variant that is the first detected in South Africa, Britain and Brazil. Britain began door-to-door testing of 80,000 people on Tuesday in an effort to contain the spread of the highly contagious South African variant and there has been an increase in the spread of the variant in Sweden.

Saudi health officials said stricter measures would be needed to curb the spread of the virus if the public continued to ignore regulations on social distancing and bans on large gatherings.

Saudi Arabia reported 310 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, nearly four times the number a month ago. (T/RE1)

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)