Mar 24: Saudi Arabia has recorded its first death from the coronavirus in a 51-year-old Afghani resident, Health Ministry spokesman Mohammed Abdelali told a televised news conference on Tuesday.
The man's health deteriorated quickly after reporting to a hospital emergency room in the city of Medina and he died on Monday night, Abdelali said.
Dubai, Jun 5: A new set of coronavirus guidelines for UAE hotels has been published by the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority.
The guidelines, released late Thursday, require all employees to be tested for Covid-19 before reopening, and to be re-tested every 15 days.
Hotels are expected to provide an infrared thermometer and thermal camera, with employee temperatures to be tested several times per working day.
Any guest or employee showing coronavirus symptoms will not be permitted to enter hotel facilities, the guidelines stress.
Hotels must also leave a 24-hour gap between guests leaving a room, and the next guests arriving.
Facilities such as restaurants, cafes, gyms, swimming pools and beaches in hotels will resume operation under a minimum capacity.
Customers must have their temperatures taken before they enter.
The working hours of restaurants and cafes will be from 6am until 9pm, allowing four people to sit at the same table with 2.5 metres left between tables. Menus must be sterilised after each use.
Riyadh, Jun 20: Saudi Arabia will end a nationwide curfew and lift restrictions on businesses from Sunday morning after three months of lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, state news agency SPA quoted a source in the interior ministry as saying on Saturday.
The curfew will be lifted as of 6 AM local time on Sunday. Restrictions will remain, however, for religious pilgrimages, international travel and social gatherings of more than 50 people.
The kingdom introduced stringent measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in March, including 24-hour curfews on most towns and cities.
In May, it announced a three-phase plan to ease restrictions on movement and travel, culminating in the curfew completely ending on June 21.
The number of coronavirus infections has risen in recent weeks following a relaxation of movement and travel restrictions on May 28.
The kingdom has recorded 154,223 cases of COVID-19 and a total of 1,230 deaths, the highest in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.
Saudi Arabia plans to limit numbers at the annual haj pilgrimage to prevent a further outbreak of coronavirus cases, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this month.
Some 2.5 million pilgrims visit the holiest sites of Islam in Mecca and Medina for the week-long haj, a once-in-a-lifetime duty for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it. Saudi Arabia asked Muslims in March to put haj plans on hold and suspended the umrah pilgrimage until further notice.
Asia, Jan 15: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Wednesday said that killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani showed the ignorance and arrogance of the United States and asserted that Washington looks at things from their perspective and not keeping the interests of the region in mind.
"The US looks at things from their perspective, not from the perspective of this region. The killing of Qassem Soleimani shows ignorance and arrogance. 430 Indian cities saw protests against killing of Soleimani," Zarif said at an event.
Hitting out at US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, Zarif said that they were the only ones, along with the Islamic State (ISIS) who celebrated the death of Soleimani.
"Who is celebrating Soleimani's killing? President Trump, Pompeo and Daesh (Arabic name of ISIS). You wonder about strange bedfellows?" he said.
Tensions between the US and Iran soared dramatically earlier this month after Washington launched airstrikes at Baghdad International Airport, which killed Soleimani. Tehran retaliated by firing a volley of ballistic missiles at two military bases of US-led coalition forces in Iraq, leading to a strife in the region.
However, Zarif regretted the shooting down of the Ukrainian airline and said it happened because of "tension".
"Nine million people were out in the streets of Iran commemorating Soleimani. You cannot bring out so many people to protest. The shooting down of a plane was a mistake. 180 families are mourning the loss of their dear ones. It happened because of tension," he said.
Asked whether there a chance of a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis, Zarif ruled out negotiating with the US.
"Iran is interested in diplomacy. We are not interested in negotiating with the US. US did not keep its commitments under nuclear deal. We had a US deal and the US broke it. If we have a Trump deal, how long will it last?" he said.
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