No recorded cases of the coronavirus in Saudi Arabia: Minister

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia has been monitoring all passengers who arrived on flights from China for coronavirus, given that the incubation period of the deadly virus is 14 days, Minister of Health Tawfiq Al-Rabiah said on Friday.

Saudi Arabia advised its citizens on Friday against traveling to China due to the outbreak, according to the Kingdom’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At the beginning of the outbreak, the Kingdom had activated infection control measures, prepped health facilities, and began screening all passengers who arrived on direct and non-direct flights from China, he added.

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak level of the virus, also known as corona, as a global health emergency, as the death toll reached 213 people with almost 10,000 others having been infected.

The minister said on Twitter that all passengers arriving from China were being monitored, and were isolated until doctors could prove that they had not been infected or exposed to the virus.

There have been no recorded cases of the deadly coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, Al-Rabiah added.

Countries in the Arabian Gulf and across the world have been taking precautionary measures to ensure that the lethal virus is contained, and have issued travel warnings.

Gulf airports said last week they would screen all passengers arriving from China amid the outbreak of the deadly virus.

Corona has spread to over 20 countries, including the UAE, the US, China, Japan, India, Canada, among several others. — SG