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.
Expatriate workers who fail to abide by the coronavirus protocols in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia may face deportation, according to media reports.
“Individuals who fail to abide by preventive measures, including wearing medical or cloth face masks, failing to observe social distancing and refusing to have their temperatures taken, will be fined SR1,000. The fine will be doubled if the violation is repeated. Residents will be deported after paying the fines,” Okaz newspaper said.
Authorities called on people to report offenders by dialling the toll free number 999, except for the holy city of Makka, where the toll free number is 911.
As per the newly-revised Saudi protocols, social gatherings such as mourning or celebration events that take place inside homes, rest houses or farms, are allowed, but attendants should not exceed 50 persons.
The private sector is also required to adhere to precautionary measures: providing their staff with disinfectants and sanitisers, taking the temperatures of both staff and customers at the entrances of shopping malls.
Other measures include sterilising shopping trolleys and baskets after each use, sanitising facilities and surfaces, closing children’s play areas and fitting rooms in shopping malls and ready-wear outlets.
Authorities highlighted the need for all individuals and entities to abide by health safety rules, social-distancing protocol and the new guidelines set for social gatherings.
Dubai, Mar 23: All inbound, outbound and transit passenger flights to and from the United Arab Emirates – home to one of the world’s busiest hubs – are to be suspended for two weeks.
The UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA) and General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has announced that passenger flights to, from and through the country will be suspended from 25 March for a period of two weeks, in order to “curb the spread of the Covid-19”.
Freight and emergency evacuation flights will still be permitted to operate.
The suspension affects major global hubs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Dubai-based Emirates has already announced that it will suspend most of its passenger flights from 25 March.
“Additional examination and isolation arrangements will be taken later should flights resume, in order to ensure the safety of passengers, air crews and airport personnel and their protection from infection risks,” state the NCEMA and the GCAA.
Dubai International Airport was the third-busiest airport in the world in 2018, handling 89 million passengers.
Apr 20: Eight Indians, including two engineers, have died due to the novel coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, according to a media report on Sunday.
Mohammed Aslam Khan, an electrical engineer in Makkah, and Azmatullah Khan, an engineer at the Makkah Haram power station, have died due to the COVID-19, Saudi Gazette reported.
Aslam Khan, aged 51, who hailed from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, was admitted to King Faisal Hospital, Makkah on April 3, following worsening of his condition after being infected with fever and throat pain.
He had been on ventilator for more than two weeks and breathed his last on Saturday night, the paper said.
Khan is survived by wife and a daughter and a son. His wife and children are under self-imposed home quarantine.
Azmatullah Khan, from Telangana, died of coronavirus on Friday.
Mujeeb Pukkottoor, a prominent Indian social worker and general secretary of Makkah chapter of Kerala Muslim Cultural Center, told the paper that the body of Khan was buried in Makkah on Sunday.
Khan, aged 65, had been working with Saudi Binladin Group for the last 32 years.
Fakre Alam, an employee at the Haram Project of Saudi Binladin Group in Makkah, died on Sunday due to infection, the paper said.
Barkt Ali Abdullatif Fakir, an electrical technician working in Medina, also died of coronavirus, it said.
According to the Saudi Ministry of Health’s daily report published on April 14, the number of coronavirus infected cases among workers of Saudi Binladin Group in various parts of the Kingdom stood at 117, and these included 70 cases in Makkah.
The first two Indian fatalities were reported from Medina and Riyadh earlier this month with the death of Shebnaz Pala Kandiyil (29) and Safvan Nadamal (41), both from Kerala.
Mohammed Sadiq, from Hyderabad, working in Jeddah and Suleman Sayyid Junaid (Maharashtra) are other Indians who died due to COVID-19 in the Gulf kingdom, the paper said.
Shebnaz from Panoor in Kannoor district died on April 3 and his body was buried in Medina on April 7. He came back to the Kingdom March 3 after his marriage in January.
Safvan, a taxi driver from Chemmad in Malappuram district, died on April 2 and was buried in Riyadh on April 8.
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