Saudi Arabia bans citizens from travelling to India, 15 other countries

Saudi Arabia has banned its citizens from travelling to India and 15 other countries because of the surge in COVID 19 cases in recent weeks.

According to the news agency ANI, sixteen countries in which citizens of Saudi Arabia are prohibited from traveling are India, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Armenia, Belarus and Vietnam.

The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia has assured the public of zero monkeypox cases in the country. Saudi Arabia Deputy Minister of Health for preventive health Abdullah Asiri said the kingdom has the ability to monitor and discover suspect monkeypox cases and fight the infection if a case occurs.

Asiri said that the possibility of any outbreaks coming from it is very low because of the limited cases of transmission between humans. The World Health Organisation WHO said some 80 monkeypox cases have been confirmed, while more than 50 are under investigation in 11 countries as of Friday. Monkeypox is a disease related to smallpox and can cause symptoms like fever, aches and bumpy rashes.