Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia cordons off Qatif region

Riyadh: Saudi authorities have cordoned off eastern Qatif region, a stronghold of the kingdom’s Shiite minority, in a bid to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus, the interior ministry said Sunday.

“Given that all 11 recorded positive cases of the new coronavirus are from Qatif... it has been decided... to temporarily suspend entry and exit from Qatif,” the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.