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A file picture shows people hanging out at Jeddah’s Corniche. The shut facilities include the Seafront, the Southern Corniche as well as the Northern and Southern Obhur. Image Credit: Supplied

Cairo: Police and the border guard have closed down all the seafront in the Saudi city of Jeddah round the clock as part of precautions to limit gatherings and contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in the city already under tighter curbs against the virus, media reports said Wednesday.

The shut facilities include the Seafront, the Southern Corniche as well as the Northern and Southern Obhur.

Over the past few days, the Jeddah Corniche has seen overcrowding, prompting local authorities to close all car parks on the seafront and increase security patrols to limit gatherings and enforce social distancing rules to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the Red Sea city.

On Saturday, Saudi authorities started reimposing a longer curfew and other restrictions in Jeddah for two weeks with the aim of curbing the spread of the highly contagious disease. The curfew is in force daily from 3pm until 6am.

As part of the curbs, restaurants are also shuttered, and gatherings of more than five persons are banned.

The Saudi Health Ministry Tuesday reported detecting 447 virus cases in Jeddah among 3,288 infections recorded nationwide.