Saudi Arabia on Wednesday expanded its precautionary measures against the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) by announcing a ban on its citizens form performing the Muslim pilgrimage ’Umrah’ to the holy cities of Makkah and Medina. Iran has cancelled Friday prayers in major cities.
The move comes a week after the kingdom banned foreigners and pilgrims from visiting the holy cities, a move termed temporary but that was not given an end date.
Saudi Arabia receives millions of pilgrims each year as Muslims throng to the holy cities to perform the Umrah and to perform the Hajj.
On March 3, Saudi Arabia reported its first confirmed coronavirus case, a citizen who had travelled via Iran. After he was tested positive, authorities quarantined around 70 people who were in contact with the man.
Fears of the outbreak spreading in Saudi Arabia rose after Iran became a regional hub for the virus in the Middle East, with the highest death toll in the world outside of China at 92. There were 2,922 confirmed cases across Iran as of Wednesday, and over 3,100 cases across the Middle East as a whole.
As of Wednesday, the coronavirus had infected 94,250 people worldwide. The outbreak, which began in China, has since seen new hubs emerge in Italy, Iran and South Korea.
France heightens monitoring of Evangelical community after 10 cases linked to lent service
An evangelical lent service is being monitored in France, a country with 212 confirmed cases. According to authorities, 10 cases have been linked to a Lent church service in Eastern France that 2,000 people took part in this February. According to Christophe Lannelongue, head of France’s health agency in the eastern region, the “chain of contamination” began at this service.
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Lannelongue has since called on all those who attended the service to isolate themselves and report to authorities if they demonstrate any symptoms.
The move comes after a similar incident in South Korea led to the outbreak spanning the entire country.
The outbreak in South Korea, where 5,621 people have been confirmed with the coronavirus, saw a jump in the number of cases after a gathering of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus saw multiple people infected. Over half of all infections in the country have been attributed to the church, whose members travelled across the country before they were quarantined. Over 200,000 of the church’s members have since been tested for the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, authorities in the UK have announced that statutory sick pay would be offered to anyone who reports sick and self-isolates from the very first day of quarantine, instead of from day four. The UK so far has 53 confirmed cases.
In Italy, the hub of the outbreak in Europe, schools and colleges are to be closed for at least two weeks as the country as the country struggles to cope with the spread of the disease. The death toll jumped to 79 on Wednesday as the number of cases reached 2,502.
Cases linked to travel to Italy have been observed in at least 30 countries around the world, including India.
