Afghan expatriate, 51, in Madinah is first in Saudi Arabia to die of COVID-19
An expatriate from Afghanistan is the first person in Saudi Arabia to die from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. The 51-year-old man died in Madinah, Health Ministry spokesman, Dr. Mohammed Al-Abd Al-Aly, said. The patient had come to the hospital at the last stage of the disease, and his health had deteriorated rapidly, the spokesman said. The Kingdom reported 205 new virus cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to 767. There are more than 2,100 cases in the Gulf states, and six people have died — three in Bahrain, two in the UAE and the latest in Saudi Arabia.
The UAE brought forward its suspension of all passenger flights to 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday night, following conflicting statements from airlines and airports.
“There is a lot of confusion on the flight suspension,” a European diplomat said. The changes were making it increasingly difficult to get European citizens home, he said. The UAE has suspended prayers in mosques for four weeks and will close malls, restaurants, cafes and open food markets for two weeks from Wednesday.
Some stores at malls in Dubai have already closed. “This is a global problem. I don’t know why they didn’t close earlier,” one employee said. Oman, with 84 coronavirus cases, will suspend international passenger flights on March 29.
Kuwait, which has imposed a curfew, will deport nine expatriates for breaking it.
The Health Ministry said everyone arriving from abroad must go into quarantine for 14 days. In Lebanon, where the number of virus cases rose on Tuesday by 37 to 304, a desperate taxi driver torched his car and tried to set himself on fire after police fined him for carrying four passengers when he was permitted only one. “It makes us angry to see policemen giving a ticket to a taxi driver who was pushed by poverty and hunger to work while risking contracting the coronavirus,” drivers’ representative Chadi El-Sayed told Arab News. “A taxi driver can endure hunger, but he needs to feed his children. We have already warned of this situation. There should be alternatives immediately, otherwise they should prepare coffins for people who will die of hunger.”
BACKGROUND
•
UAE suspends prayers in mosques, will close restaurants, malls, cafes, open food markets.
•
Oman, with 84 coronavirus cases, will suspend international passenger flights on March 29.
•
Kuwait to deport 9 expats for breaking curfew, to quarantine foreign arrivals for 14 days.