As coronavirus gets proclaimed “a global pandemic”, countries have started taking drastic actions in order to control the effect of the disease. In the wake of this crisis Saudi Arabia and United States take measures in order to deal with the situation at hand.
Saudi Arabia has temporarily suspended travel of citizens and residents and halted flights with several states due to coronavirus fears, state news agency SPA said on Thursday citing an official source at Interior Ministry.
Official source at Ministry of Interior: Kingdom’s government decides to temporarily suspend travel of citizens and expatriates, suspend flights to number of countries.https://t.co/1NBdyiv8Ut#SPAGOV pic.twitter.com/4mQSrtxiAO
— SPAENG (@Spa_Eng) March 12, 2020
Whereas US President Donald Trump announced he is cutting off travel from Europe to the US. Trump made the announcement that he is suspending all travel from Europe to the US for 30 days beginning at 11:59 pm Friday during a rare Oval Office address to the nation.
Trump blamed the EU for not taking a prompt approach, saying: “We made a lifesaving move with early action on China,” Trump said. “Now we must take the same action with Europe.”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1237924069397467137
Washington suddenly seemed to push to act after mixed messages and false starts, as government officials warned in increasingly urgent terms that the outbreak in the US will only get worse.
Congress, for its part, unveiled a multibillion-dollar aid package Wednesday that was expected to be voted on by the House as soon as Thursday.
Saudi Arabia To Not Conduct Any Sort Of Travel With These Countries:
Among the countries with whom Saudi Arabia won’t be conducting any flights with are European Union, Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia, source added, saying the Kingdom also suspended entry to those coming from these countries.
The decision excludes health workers in the Kingdom from Philippines and India, and evacuation, shipping and trade trips taking necessary precautions.
Saudi Arabia also suspended passenger traffic through all land crossings with Jordan, while commercial and cargo traffic is still allowed, and the passage of exceptional humanitarian cases.
