US Citizen in Saudi Arabia Tests Coronavirus Positive

Published March 9th, 2020 - 11:55 GMT
Mohammed Alabed Alali, Saudi Arabia's health minstry spokesman, addresses reporters during a press briefing about COVID-19 coronavirus disease, in the capital Riyadh on March 8, 2020 Saudi authorities on March 8 cordoned off the eastern Qatif region, a stronghold of the kingdom's Shiite minority, in a bid to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus, the interior ministry said. The kingdom has expressed alarm over the spread of the disease across the Gulf region, which has confirmed more than 230 coronavirus c
Mohammed Alabed Alali, Saudi Arabia's health minstry spokesman, addresses reporters during a press briefing about COVID-19 coronavirus disease, in the capital Riyadh on March 8, 2020 Saudi authorities on March 8 cordoned off the eastern Qatif region, a stronghold of the kingdom's Shiite minority, in a bid to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus, the interior ministry said. The kingdom has expressed alarm over the spread of the disease across the Gulf region, which has confirmed more than 230 coronavirus cases -- most of them people returning from religious pilgrimages to Shiite-majority Iran. The Eastern Province -- which includes Qatif -- has seen bouts of unrest since 2011 when protesters emboldened by the Arab Spring uprisings took to the streets. FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP
Highlights
The total number of coronavirus cases in the eastern province has now reached 11, most of Saudi Arabia's 15 positive coronavirus cases.

A US citizen in Saudi Arabia has tested positive for coronavirus after he traveled from the Philippines and Italy, the Health Ministry confirmed.

The man, whose name and home state were not revealed, is now receiving treatment at a hospital in Riyadh, Saudi officials added.

Three others in the Al Qatif province, including two Bahrani citizens, have also recently tested positive for the virus, CNN reported.   

It comes as all travel in and out of the province was suspended on Sunday to prevent the spread of COVID-19 after four more cases were reported in the area. 

The total number of coronavirus cases in the eastern province has now reached 11, most of Saudi Arabia's 15 positive coronavirus cases.

On Monday, concerns over the virus led Saudi Arabia to cut off air and sea travel with Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, South Korea, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. The kingdom had already shut its land borders.

'Out of concern to protect the health of citizens and residents and ensure their safety, the kingdom's government decided to temporarily suspend the travel,' an Interior Ministry official said.

Saudi Arabia has also shut down access to some of the holiest sites in Islam over concerns about COVID-19.

The citizen's diagnosis comes as the coronavirus death toll grew to 22 in the US today.

Health officials confirmed a patient in Grant County, Washington, died as a result of the virus, but no other details of the case were confirmed.

In a statement, Grant County Health District Administrator Theresa Adkinson offered her condolences to the patient's family and friends. 

Some 19 of the 22 deaths due to coronavirus in the US have taken place in Washington state, with the three others in California and Florida.       

The United States currently has 554 confirmed cases of the virus. 

This article has been adapted from its original source.

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