Saudi Arabia reports four new coronavirus cases, suspends travel to and from 9 countries

Passengers have their temperature checked by Saudi Health Ministry employees upon their arrival at King Khalid International Airport, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Jan 29, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS

Updated

Published

Mar 09, 2020, 07:15 AM

CAIRO (REUTERS) - Saudi Arabia reported four new coronavirus cases on Monday (March 9), bringing the total number of registered cases to 15, its health ministry said in a statement.

The ministry added that new cases include one Saudi national, two Bahrainis and one American.

Earlier on Monday, Saudi Arabia suspended travel to nine countries for its citizens and residents amid coronavirus fears and suspended the entry of people from those countries or anyone who has been there in the past 14 days.

The nine countries are the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, South Korea, Egypt, Italy and Iraq.

Meanwhile, the Saudi entertainment authority announced early on Monday the closure of Riyadh boulevard and winter wonderland due to concerns about the new coronavirus, state TV reported.

The country recorded four more cases of the fast-spreading respiratory disease on Sunday, raising the total to 11 cases.

Earlier on Sunday, Saudi Arabia said it was suspending all educational and Quranic activities at mosques starting from Monday to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.