COVID-19: Saudi Arabia deems 69 countries very high risk

Arab countries on list include Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Syria

Last updated: June 22, 2021 | 06:14

Samir Salama, Associate Editor

2 MIN READ

For illustrative purpose only

Pexels

Also In This Package

COVID-19: Zero refund for cancelled flights?

Coronavirus: Cancelled flights from Dubai to Canada due to COVID-19 lockdown, but where is the Dh14,500 refund for airfare?

Bollywood stars who've splurged on swanky homes

From Ranveer Singh to Alia Bhatt, Sunny Leone, here's a round up of Bollywood stars who've bought property recently

Troubled zoo starts 'Sponsor an Animal' to raise money

Troubled Chile zoo starts 'Sponsor an Animal' campaign to raise money

China administers a billion COVID-19 vaccine doses

Abu Dhabi: Saudi Arabia’s Public Health Authority (Weqaya) classified 69 countries around the world at a “very high risk” level, according to its travel alerts for the global epidemiological situation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Weqaya advised residents in Saudi Arabia not to travel to these countries, which include 11 Arab countries: Bahrain, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, and Libya.

It updates alerts every two weeks based on the epidemiological assessment of countries.

The Ministry of Interior earlier alerted citizens not to travel to Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Somalia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Belarus and India without obtaining permission from the authorities.

The list of countries classified as “very high risk” and marked in red on the site’s world map includes Argentina, Armenia, Afghanistan, Uruguay, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Bahrain, Syrian, Senegal, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Philippines, Congo and India.

Japan, Indonesia, Uganda, Ukraine, Iran, Pakistan, Brazil, Paraguay, Bangladesh, Panama, Botswana, Burundi, Bolivia, Peru, Belarus,Tajikistan, Tanzania,Turkey, Trinidad and Tobago, Chile, Tunisia, Maldive Islands, and Yemen are also ranked as very high risk countries.

Also on the very high risk countries list are Egypt, South Sudan, Guatemala, Guyana, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Saint Vincent, Saint Kitts, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Seychelles, Palestine, Venezuela, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Costa Rica, Colombia, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Haiti and Honduras.