RIYADH, (Pakistan Point News - 12th Mar, 2020) Saudi Arabia has announced travel restrictions from European Union countries along with 12 others in a bid to combat the spread of coronavirus, COVID-19.
The Saudi Press Agency, SPA, quoted an official from the Kingdom's Ministry of Interior as saying that the decision was taken as a preventative and precautionary measure by the country to contain and mitigate the spread of the pandemic.
All flights coming from the 26 EU nations as well as Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia have been temporarily halted, the agency reported.
The official also noted that all travel undertaken by land from the Kingdom of Jordan has been halted, however, commercial and freight flights from Jordan continue to operate. They explained that humanitarian and exceptional cases would still be able to cross the Kingdom's borders.
The Saudi official noted that a 72-hour grace period for Saudi residents with valid residency permits currently outside of the Kingdom to return immediately, before the travel restrictions take hold.
The flight restrictions imposed exclude health care workers from the Philippines and India who work in the Kingdom. Evacuation, cargo and trade flights will continue as normal, while undertaking the necessary precautions, SPA reported the official as saying.
