Coronavirus: Saudi citizens and residents barred from travelling to China

Move follows evacuation of Saudi students from epicentre of outbreak in Wuhan city

A Taiwanese national jailed in South Korea is taken to a hospital by health officials after complaining of symptoms of the novel coronavirus at a police station in Gwangju, South Korea. The man tested negative for the virus. EPA

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun (R) sanitizes his hands before attending a meeting to discuss measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. EPA

Personnel clad in protective gear and tasked to provide care for suspected coronavirus patients on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship prepare to leave as over 3,700 people remain quarantined onboard. AFP

A security guard checks the temperature of people entering Yu Park in Shanghai. AFP

A woman wearing a facemask plays a video game on her smartphone on a subway train in Tokyo. AFP

Ambulances wait to transfer patients who tested positive for the new coronavirus from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked off the coast of Japan. AFP

Staff members disinfecting a bus in Qingdao, in China's eastern Shandong province, amid a virus outbreak that originated from Hubei's provincial capital city of Wuhan. AFP

Staff members disinfecting a bus in Qingdao, in China's eastern Shandong province, amid a virus outbreak that originated from Hubei's provincial capital city of Wuhan. AFP

Passengers onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship wave from their balconies as the ship docks at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, Japan. AFP

A man wearing a protective facemask walks in Yu Park in Shanghai. AFP

Medical workers prepare traditional Chinese medicine at a TCM hospital as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus. cnsphoto via Reuters

A woman wearing a protective facemask looks on in Yu Park in Shanghai. AFP

People wearing protective facemasks use their mobile phones in Yu Park in Shanghai. AFP

A man wearing a protective face mask walks along the usually busy Bund waterfront along the Huangpu River overlooking Shanghai’s financial district. AFP

Saudi Arabia has barred its citizens and residents of the kingdom from traveling to China in response to the deadly virus outbreak there.

The General Directorate of Passports said that any residents of the kingdom who violate the order would not be allowed to re-enter the kingdom. It also said that regulatory provisions on travel documents would be applied to citizens who violate the travel ban, without further elaboration. The statement was carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

The travel ban comes after Saudi Arabia’s national carrier Saudia joined other major airlines in suspending flights to China on Sunday. Ten Saudi students have been evacuated from the Chinese city Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, and quarantined upon arrival to Riyadh for two weeks.

The viral outbreak has infected more than 28,200 people globally, most of them in China where more than  560 people have died.

China has imposed travel restrictions restrictions that have isolated more than 50 million people in and around Wuhan, a central Chinese city where the outbreak began in December and where the vast majority of the deaths have been recorded. Throughout China, cities, towns and villages have enacted varying levels of restrictions and foreign countries have severely restricted travel to and from the country.

The virus, believed to have originated in wild animals sold at a food market in Wuhan, is part of a family of coronaviruses, including Mers and Sars, and causes fever, cough and shortness of breath. It is particularly deadly among people over 60 and those with pre-existing illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes.