Riyadh, Nov 17: More than 330, 000 expatriates working in Saudi Arabia are over the age of 60 years as of the first half of this year, according to statistics published by “Mal” magazine and quoted by “Okaz” newspaper.
This prompted some Saudi Twitter users to demand an age limit for foreigners.
Others called on the GCC countries to limit the residency of foreigners to three periods of (six years), and upon reaching it, the residence permit will not be renewed.
Tehran, Mar 10: Twenty-seven people have died from methanol poisoning in Iran after rumours that drinking alcohol can help cure the novel coronavirus infection, state news agency IRNA reported on Monday. The outbreak of the virus in Islamic republic is one of the deadliest outside of China, where the disease originated.
Twenty have died in the southwestern province of Khuzestan and seven in the northern region of Alborz after consuming bootleg alcohol, IRNA said.
Drinking alcohol is banned in Iran for everyone except some non-Muslim religious minorities. Local media regularly report on lethal cases of poisoning caused by bootleg liquor.
A spokesman for Jundishapur medical university in Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan, said 218 people had been hospitalised there after being poisoned.
The poisonings were caused by "rumours that drinking alcohol can be effective in treating coronavirus," Ali Ehsanpour said.
The deputy prosecutor of Alborz, Mohammad Aghayari, told IRNA the dead had drunk methanol after being "misled by content online, thinking they were fighting coronavirus and curing it." If ingested in large quantities, methanol can cause blindness, liver damage and death.
Iran has been scrambling to contain the spread of the COVID-19 illness which has hit all of the country's 31 provinces, killing 237 people and infecting 7,161.
According to IRNA, 16 out of 69 confirmed cases have died of coronavirus infection in Khuzestan as of Sunday.
Ankara, Apr 2: Saudi Arabia on Thursday declared a 24-hour lockdown in all parts of Makkah and Medina cities as part of measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
"The 24-hour curfew will be imposed in all parts of the cities of Makkah and Medina, with a ban on entry and exit from both cities," the Saudi Interior Ministry said on Twitter.
The lockdown starts from Thursday “until further notice.”
All commercial activities inside the residential neighborhoods of the two cities were also prohibited, except for pharmacies, food products stores, gas stations and banking services, the ministry said.
After first appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the virus has spread to at least 180 countries and regions, according to U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.
Its data shows the number of confirmed cases worldwide have surpassed 962,900, with the death toll over 49,100 and more than 202,700 recoveries.
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Feb 13: Two Indian crew on board a cruise ship off the Japanese coast have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Indian Embassy in Japan said on Wednesday as authorities confirmed that 174 people have been infected with the deadly disease.
The cruise ship Diamond Princess with 3,711 people on board arrived at the Japanese coast early last week and was quarantined after a passenger who de-boarded last month in Hong Kong was found to be the carrier of the novel virus on the ship.
A total of 138 Indians, including passengers and crew, were on board the ship.
“Due to the suspicion of novel coronavirus (nCoV) infection, the ship has been quarantined by the Japanese authorities till February 19, 2020,” the embassy said in a statement.
“Altogether 174 people have been tested positive for nCoV, including two Indian crew members,” it said.
All the infected people have been taken to hospitals for adequate treatment, including further quarantine, in accordance with the Japanese health protocol, it said.
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