The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has banned its citizens from traveling to Iran and Thailand amid the coronavirus outbreak concerns until further notice, the UAE Foreign Ministry said on Monday
DOHA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th February, 2020) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has banned its citizens from traveling to Iran and Thailand amid the coronavirus outbreak concerns until further notice, the UAE Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
"In light of the UAE's efforts to monitor and contain the spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, and in the interest of general public safety and health, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has issued a travel ban, calling on all UAE citizens to not travel to Iran and Thailand at present and up until further notice," the ministry said in a statement.
It added that the UAE nationals in Iran and Thailand were requested to contact the Foreign Ministry or embassy to ensure their safe return.
The UAE was the first among the Gulf countries to register coronavirus cases. According to the country's Health Ministry, 13 cases of the infection were detected across the Emirates, while three of those infected have recovered. The UAE also helped to evacuate students from other Arab countries, including Yemen, from China and quarantined them before returning to their homeland.
The new coronavirus was first detected in China in late December and has since spread to more than 25 other countries, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency. The outbreak has already left over 77,000 people infected worldwide and resulted in more than 2,600 deaths in mainland China.
