Saudi Arabia stops foreigners from visiting Islam's holiest sites over Coronavirus threat

NEW DELHI: On Thursday Saudi Arabia abruptly stopped travel to the holiest sites in Islam over coronavirus fears, as the Middle East recorded more than 220 confirmed cases.

Saudi Arabia halted travel just months before the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

The exceptional decision by Saudi Arabia blocks foreigners from reaching the holy city of Mecca and the Kaaba. They also suspended travel to Prophet Muhammad's mosque in Medina.

The pronouncement specified the level of concern about the outbreak and how potentially it's spreading into Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi foreign ministry said, "Saudi Arabia renews its support for all international measures to limit the spread of this virus and urges its citizens to exercise caution before traveling to countries experiencing coronavirus outbreaks" in a statement announcing the decision.

"We ask God Almighty to spare all humanity from all harm," he added.

Earlier the Saudi Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) had ruled out media reports which claimed that an Indian nurse in the Kingdom was infected with the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) that originated in China. "No cases of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in #Saudi_Arabia so far," the Khaleej Times reported citing a CDC tweet. Instead, two female healthcare workers from Abha City, ages 38 and 27 respectively, have been diagnosed with MERS, it added.

"Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans," stated WHO.

Most common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing, said WHO.

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