Saudi Arabia expanded its flight and travel bans to 12 countries and the European Union on Thursday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a similar measure for most of Europe.
In a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency, the country said it was temporarily suspending "the travel of citizens and expatriates and suspended flights" to European Union member states, Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti and Somalia.
Saudi Arabia said it was extending its ban to countries "where the threat of the spread of the novel coronavirus appeared" as part of its efforts to control the spread of the virus within its own border.
Of the 113 countries to report infections, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti and Somalia have yet to confirm a case of COVID-19, according to data from the World Health Organization.
The statement said the ban is also extended to anyone who visited those countries within the virus' 14-day incubation period prior to attempting to enter the Middle Eastern country.
The measure will go into effect in 72 hours in order to give people from those countries with residency within Saudi Arabia enough time to return, it added.
Saudi Arabia had already issued the travel ban to those from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, South Korea, Egypt, Iraq and six other nations, including France Italy and Germany, which are EU member states.
The country has excluded health practitioners working in Saudi Arabia from the Philippines and India, it said.
According to WHO, which on Wednesday labeled the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, Saudi Arabia has 20 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
The move comes hours after Trump announced Wednesday night the United States would suspend all travel from most of Europe starting midnight Friday.
The virus emerged from China in December where it has infected tens of thousands but on Thursday its national health commission reported only 15 new infections and 11 deaths over the previous 24 hours, continuing signs that the epidemic in the Asian nation was being brought under control.
Of its new infections, six were imported, health officials said.
Despite indications the disease there has slowed, China has recorded 80,793 infections and 3,169 deaths since the outbreak began.
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