Saudi Arabia Cuts off Travel to Lebanon over Virus
Saudi Arabia closed off air and sea travel to nine countries, including Lebanon, affected by the new coronavirus Monday.
Coronavirus concerns led Saudi Arabia to cut off air and sea travel with Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, South Korea, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. The kingdom had earlier closed off its land borders as well.
"Out of concern to protect the health of citizens and residents and ensure their safety, the kingdom's government decided to temporarily suspend the travel," it said in a statement attributed to an unnamed Interior Ministry official.
Saudi Arabia already shut down access to the holiest sites in Islam over concerns about the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes. The virus usually leaves people with only mild to moderate symptoms, but because it's new, experts can't say for sure how far it will ultimately spread and how much damage it will do, both in terms of health and the global economy.
The tiny, energy-rich neighboring country of Qatar meanwhile has cut off travel to 15 nations including Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand. That's affected its long-haul carrier Qatar Airways, which has already been hurting from a yearslong boycott by four Arab nations including Saudi Arabia over a political dispute.
Worldwide, there are over 110,000 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus with more than 3,800 deaths attributed to it.
In the Mideast, there have been over 7,000 confirmed cases, with the vast majority in hard-hit Iran, which has seen 194 reported deaths. Experts worry Iran may be underreporting its cases.
The new virus has caused major economic disruptions, including in global aviation, which has helped slow demand for oil. An OPEC meeting with Russia last week failed to see countries agree to a production cut. In response, Saudi Arabia has warned it will increase its production and slash its own prices to claw back market share.
That sent oil prices into a free fall, losing some 25% of their value. Mideast stock markets followed suit.
Source: Associated Press
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