Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia extends curfew as deaths mount

Officials say public must adhere more closely to measures imposed

A Palestinian groom with a mask attends his wedding in the West Bank city of Hebron. EPA

Volunteers from 'Violet Organisation', a local non-government organisation during a disinfection operation in Idlib, Syria. EPA

Volunteers from 'Violet Organisation', a local non-government organisation during a disinfection operation in Idlib, Syria. EPA

A staff member works on swabs from patients at the central health laboratory in Sanaa, Yemen. EPA

A pigeon owner watches his pigeons fly on the rooftop of his building in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. AFP

Imed Hazgui (C-L), Tunisia's Defence Minister, and Nadia Akacha (C), the senior advisor to the Tunisian President in charge of Legal Affairs, attending a farewell ceremony for a Tunisian volunteer medical delegation at el-Aouina military airfield before departing for Italy as part of a medical relief expedition to combat Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. AFP

An elevated view of empty streets in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. AFP

Market shops are shut along an empty street in Eminonu during a two-day lockdown imposed prevent the spread of Covid-19 in Istanbul, Turkey. Getty Images

Galata Bridge is empty during a two-day lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Istanbul, Turkey. Getty Images

A Palestinian man sprays disinfectants to sanitise coins at his shop in Jordan Valley in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Reuters

A man holds a mobile as he wears rings over gloves in Sidon, Lebanon. Reuters

Sudan's Minister of Health Akram Ali Altom speaks during a Reuters interview amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus, in Khartoum, Sudan. Reuters

Seven more people died of the coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, the Health Ministry said on Sunday, as King Salman extended indefinitely a curfew that officials said was not sufficiently observed.

Saudi Health Minister Tawfiq Al Rabiah warned last week that Covid-19 cases in the kingdom could rise to as many as 200,000 in the next few weeks if the public did not adhere to a curfew imposed on March 21.

The Control and Anti-Corruption Authority said a group of men were arrested over the weekend for assault and damaging a police vehicle.

They were stopped for breaking the nightly curfew and then tried to pay officers a bribe to let them go.

Saudi Arabia's confirmed number of coronavirus cases passed 4,400 on Sunday, health ministry spokesman Mohammed Abdulaali said.

The seven dead patients, ranging from 38 to 90 years old, raised the kingdom's death toll from the pandemic to 59.

Travel has been banned between Saudi Arabia’s 13 provinces and the major cities have been sealed off. Riyadh has the most recorded cases at more than 1,300.

The Saudi religious establishment has been urging compliance with the rules and on Sunday ordered the distribution of holy water to hospitals treating people with the coronavirus.

Abdulrahman Al Sudayes, the official in charge of the Great Mosque of Makkah, ordered water from the Well of Zamzam in the city to be delivered to hospitals across the country to enhance the “material and moral support” to the patients, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The decision “affirms the social responsibility and national duty” of the religious organisation in charge of the Great Mosque, Spa said.

Oman’s authorities announced 53 new coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s total to 599.

The government has recorded three deaths from the epidemic, the official news agency said.

The number of Covid-19 cases in Kuwait stood at 1,234 after 80 new cases were detected in the previous 24 hours.

Kuwait Health Ministry spokesman Abdullah Al Sanad said 1,091 people were being treated in hospital, of whom 29 were in intensive care. Mr Al Sanad said 313 patients had recovered.

The municipal authorities closed 159 shops and seven shopping centres for breaching health measures imposed since last month, Kuwait’s official news agency said.

In Bahrain, authorities released 1,793 prisoners in the past three weeks “due to the circumstances the country is passing through”, Attorney General Fadel Abou Al Ainein said on Sunday.

Mr Abou Al Ainein told the official news agency that those released included 901 covered under a royal pardon issued in mid-March.

The remaining inmates had their prison time substituted with “alternative punishment”.

Prince Khalifa bin Salman, the Bahraini Prime Minister, said the authorities were seeing “pre-emptive measures” against the coronavirus “bearing fruit”.

“Hope is big to bypass this emergency situation,” Prince Khalifa said.

Bahrain has reported at least 1,000 coronavirus infections, with six deaths.