London – Saudi Arabia will impose a three-year travel ban on citizens travelling to nations on the kingdom’s ‘red list’ under efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus and its new variants, state news agency SPA stated on Tuesday.
It cited an unnamed interior ministry official as saying some Saudi citizens, who in May were allowed to travel abroad without prior permission from authorities for the first time since March 2020, had violated travel regulations.
“Anyone who’s proven to be involved will be subject to legal accountability and heavy penalties upon their return, and will be banned from travel for 3 years,” the official stated.
Saudi Arabia has banned travel to or transit at a number of nations including Afghanistan, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Pakistan, South Africa, Turkey, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates.
“The Ministry of Interior stresses that citizens are still banned from travelling directly or via another nation to these states or any other that have but to control the pandemic or where the new strains have spread,” the official stated.
The kingdom, the largest Gulf state with a population of some 30 million, on Tuesday recorded 1,379 new COVID-19 infections, bringing its total to 520,774 cases and 8,189 deaths.
It saw each day infections fall from a peak above 4,000 in June 2020 to below the 100 marks in early January.
