Covid-19: Saudi bans entry of foreigners from 20 countries including India

The Saudi Arabia government has temporarily banned foreigners from 20 countries, including India and the UAE. The Saudi Interior Ministry said that only Saudi citizens, diplomats and health workers coming from those countries, will be allowed to enter the kingdom.

The list of banned countries includes India, UAE, USA, Germany, Argentina, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Pakistan, Brazil, Portugal, UK, Turkey, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Lebanon, Egypt and Japan. The ban will take effect from 9 pm on Wednesday.

So far, Saudi Arabia has reported more than 368,000 coronavirus cases and nearly 6,400 deaths, marking the country with the highest number of reported cases among Gulf Arab states.

Meanwhile, in India, the Union Health Ministry has decided to send two teams to Kerala and Maharashtra to support the state health department's fight against the Coronavirus. The two states share 70% of the country's total Covid-19 cases.

According to data released by the Health Ministry, Maharashtra has 44,944 active cases while Kerala has 69,456 active cases on Tuesday.