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Saudi Arabia to keep borders shut over COVID-19 until 31 March

09 January 2021 13:01 (UTC +04:00)

Saudi Arabia will keep its borders shut for international travel amid the global spread of a new coronavirus variant until 31 March, state media have reported, citing the interior ministry, APA reports citing Sputnik.

The kingdom will allow its citizens to travel abroad and return home and will reopen all sea and air ports, as well as land borders only in late March, the Spa news agency said on Friday.

In late December, Riyadh halted international flights and closed sea and land border crossings for two weeks due to the new faster-spreading coronavirus mutation detected in a number of countries.

The Gulf country has so far confirmed over 363,500 COVID-19 cases, including more than 355,00 recoveries and 6,282 deaths. The daily increase in infections has dropped to less than 100.