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Coronavirus infections continue to rise in Middle East

A women wearing facemasks walk near the Grand Bazaar in central Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, on March 13, 2020, during the COVID-19 outbreak. (File/AFP)
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Updated 15 March 2020
Arab News
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Coronavirus infections continue to rise in Middle East

  • Saudi Arabia will suspend international flights for two weeks starting Sunday
  • Egypt recorded 13 new coronavirus cases, bringing total to 93
Updated 15 March 2020
Arab News

DUBAI: Governments in the Middle East and the rest of the world have taken more precautionary measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus, including travel restrictions, work and class suspensions and quarantines.

Saturday, March 14 (All times in GMT)

20:46 - Kuwait will close shopping malls and children's entertainment centres over coronavirus fears, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported. 

19:30 - Moroccan authorities on Saturday suspended flights to and from 21 countries including Egypt, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Senegal, among others, the state news agency reported.

19:24 - Dubai said on Saturday it was temporarily suspending operations at four major theme parks and tourist attractions until the end of March amid coronavirus concerns.
The emirate's government media office said in a statement that Motiongate Dubai, Legoland Dubai, Legoland Waterpark Dubai and Bollywood Parks Dubai would be closed to ensure the health and safety of guests and employees.

19:05 - Saudi Arabia has suspended all public social gatherings including weddings and announced the temporary closure of places designated for recreational and sports activities in and outside of shopping malls to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the Kingdom. 

18:50 - French prime minister says the country is to shut down cafes, shops, restaurants and cinemas to prevent spread of coronavirus. He also said government would be keeping public transport open, but asked the public to limit its use.

Death toll in France jumps to 91 from 79.

18:25 - Saudi Arabia's central bank said on Saturday it had prepared a SR50 billion ($13 billion) package to help small and medium-sized enterprises cope with the economic impacts of the coronavirus outbreak.
The funding from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) is aimed at granting SMEs six-month deferrals on bank payments, concessional financing and exemptions from the costs of a loan guarantee programme.

16:45 - US Vice President Mike Pence said during a White House briefing on Saturday that the UK and Ireland would be included in the US travel restrictions on Europe effective from midnight on Monday (eastern time).

16:30 - Jordan said Saturday it would halt flights, close its land borders and shut down schools, places of worship and public gatherings to stop the spread of novel coronavirus.

Prime Minister Omar Al-Razzaz told official news agency Petra that "all flights into and out of the kingdom will be suspended from Tuesday until further notice."

He said exceptions would be made for cargo flights and those carrying diplomats and staff of international organisations, providing they follow health ministry guidelines -- including a two-week quarantine.

 

 

16:00 - Saudi Arabia's health ministry announced 17 new cases on Saturday.

15:10 - Egypt announced that schools and universities country-wide would be closed for two weeks starting from Sunday March 15.

14:50 - The UAE announced three new coronavirus recoveries, meaning the total number of people who have recovered in the emirates now stands at 23.

14:45 - A reminder of today's earlier news, Saudi Arabia has suspended international flights in and out of the Kingdom from Sunday (Mar. 15) to prevent the spread of coronavirus. FULL STORY HERE.

14:30 - The UK's National Health Service confirmed on Saturday that a further 10 people have died in England from the coronavirus, meaning Britain's total death toll is 21.

14:00 - The UAE's General Authority of Civil Aviation announced on Saturday the suspension of all incoming and outgoing flights to Lebanon, Turkey, Syria and Iraq from March 17 until further notice due to the virus.

Elsewhere in the emirates, the UAE's tourism body has asked all hospitality establishments to close nightclubs with immediate effect, while Abu Dhabi announced the closure of movie theaters, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, theme parks, and other tourist attractions.

13:45 - Spain's government has put the country under lockdown as part of state of emergency measures meant to combat coronavirus. 

According to a draft decree, Spaniards will be ordered to stay in their homes except to buy food or drugs, go to the hospital, go to work or in emergency situations.

13:00 - The UAE is to stop issuing visas from March 17 with the exception of diplomatic passport holders to prevent the spread of coronavirus. 

12:00 - Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Sports announced the suspension of all sporting activities and competitions in the Kingdom on Saturday.

A statement issued by the ministry said that private sport centres and gyms would also close as of Sunday.

10:40 – Iran said the confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country have reached 12,729 on Saturday, with 97 new deaths increasing the toll to 611.

10:30 – Kuwait has confirmed on Saturday four new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 104.

10:25 – The Tunisian transport ministry said they have taken strict measures to monitor ships due to the new virus.

It said the country was limiting its flights to and from Paris to once daily, adding they were working to evacuate 160 Tunisians stuck in the hard-hit European country.

10:20 – Oman has suspended schools for one month starting March 15.

09:55 – Abu Dhabi has closed tourist areas, entertainment cities, and the Louvre museum due to the outbreak.

09:10 – Iran will halt work on the expansion of its Abadan oil refinery until mid-April due to coronavirus.

07:30 – Two coronavirus cases recovered in Kuwait, bringing the total number of recoveries to seven.

07:20 – Morocco has suspended travel to Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal, banned gatherings of more than 50 people and cancelled sports, cultural and arts events due to coronavirus.

06:30 – New Zealand has canceled a national remembrance service to mark Sunday’s first anniversary of the Christchurch mosque attacks because of coronavirus fears, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

04:25 – Colombia’s president has ordered his nation’s border with Venezuela closed as a coronavirus containment measure.

Iván Duque announced late Friday that all official border crossing with the neighboring Andean nation will be shuttered beginning at 5 a.m. Saturday.

03:05 – Saudi Arabia will suspend international flights for two weeks starting Sunday to slow down the spread of the coronavirus, the interior ministry announced on Saturday.

02:40 – Two Saudi citizens have recovered from coronavirus (COVID-19) and have left the medical isolation unit in Al-Salmaniya hospital, the Saudi Embassy in Manama reported.

Meanwhile, Saudi Airlines will operate flights to Riyadh and Jeddah starting Sunday, the Saudi embassy in the Philippines said.

Friday, March 13 (All times in GMT)

18:50 - The UAE government said it will activate remote work for a segment of federal government employees, starting March 15 to March 26, and subject to renewal.

This video explaining how COVID-19 transmits person to person was produced by the World Health Organisation

18:40 – Oman’s Ministry of Health reported a new confirmed coronavirus case of a citizen linked to traveling to Iran. This brings the total number of infected cases to 20.

15:15 – In Kuwait, the Head of the Kuwait's Center for Government Communication (CGC) and its official spokesperson, Tareq Al-Mizrem, denied rumoured curfew imposed in Kuwait due to coronavirus.

13:55 – Sudan reported its first coronavirus death in the country. The patient was a 50-year-old man living in Khartoum.

09:00 – Morocco’s health ministry reported a new coronavirus case, bringing the total number of infected cases to eight.

09:00 – Egypt recorded 13 new coronavirus cases, bringing total to 93.

Topics: Coronavirus Middle East coronavirus Coronavirus

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Lebanon PM says expanded strikes suggest Israel’s ‘rejection’ of ceasefire

Updated 10 sec ago
AFP
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Lebanon PM says expanded strikes suggest Israel’s ‘rejection’ of ceasefire

  • Mikati said in a statement after overnight raids hit Beirut’s southern suburbs
Updated 10 sec ago
AFP
Beirut: Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday criticized Israel’s “expansion” of its attacks on his country, saying they indicated a rejection of efforts to broker a truce after more than a month of war.
“The Israeli enemy’s renewed expansion of the scope of its aggression on Lebanese regions, its repeated threats to the population to evacuate entire cities and villages, and its renewed targeting of the southern suburbs of Beirut with destructive raids, are all indicators that confirm the Israeli enemy’s rejection of all efforts being made to secure a ceasefire,” Mikati said in a statement after overnight raids hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, in the first such attack this week.

In east Lebanon, looming winter hints at stretched aid response

Updated 4 min 38 sec ago
Reuters
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In east Lebanon, looming winter hints at stretched aid response

  • Supplies running tight in Deir Al-Ahmar in eastern Lebanon
  • Winter snow likely to cut off only safe route
Updated 4 min 38 sec ago
Reuters
Lebanon: Nerjes Hassan was so worried her children would fall ill from bathing in the frigid water of a displacement shelter in northeast Lebanon that she drove back into her hometown to give them a hot bath and pick up food preserves.
While at home on Wednesday morning in the town of Buday, near the eastern city of Baalbek, an Israeli air strike killed her, her husband and her two children, according to her coworkers and neighbors.
Hassan, who worked for the Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST) aid organization, was among thousands seeking refuge from Israeli strikes in the mountainous Christian town of Deir Al-Ahmar in eastern Lebanon.
The town was already hosting more than 10,000 displaced people before Israel escalated its strikes on predominantly Shiite Muslim Baalbek and nearby towns starting on Wednesday this week.
Thousands more are flowing into Deir Al-Ahmar as Israel’s bombardment continues. The needs are growing, temperatures are dropping, and supplies in the town are getting tight.
In one school now serving as a shelter, aid groups that once served two meals have cut breakfast to feed more at lunch. Townspeople have put together donation drives for winter clothes and blankets but are facing shortages, leaving displaced sharing blankets overnight.
“If we flee the bombing, are we meant to die of cold?” said Suzanne Qassem, a mother of two at one displacement center, whose home in Buday had been destroyed.
“I’m sick, I’ve been taking medicine for a week and I’m still coughing... If my son gets sick, am I going to be able to get him medicine?“

’Like a siege’
Temperatures in Deir Al-Ahmar are dropping to 6 degrees Celsius (43 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight even before winter fully sets in and the schools have no diesel to run central heating systems.
“At night, we’re shaking. I put my mattress up next to my daughter and tell her to hug me so that we can keep warm. But we’re not keeping warm,” said Neyfe Mazloum, 69.
Most families fled with just the clothes on their backs, rushing out of their homes after Israeli evacuation warnings for Baalbek and surrounding towns on Wednesday and Thursday.
More than 1.2 million people have been displaced by Israeli strikes on Lebanon over the last year in its campaign against militant group Hezbollah. That includes nearly 190,000 who have sought refuge in shelters. Others are staying with relatives, have rented out homes, or are sleeping in the streets.
Lebanon’s crisis management cell says that out of 1,130 accredited shelters, 948 have reached maximum capacity. Most of the displaced are in the districts of Mount Lebanon and Beirut — easy to reach for most aid organizations.
But Deir Al-Ahmar is much further afield.
The quickest routes run through the massive area that the Israeli military says must evacuate. To avoid it, aid groups planning to deliver supplies this week will travel further north through mountain peaks before cutting back down to the town.
Imran Riza, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, told Reuters that aid deliveries to the Baalbek region had to be postponed this week due to Israeli air strikes. Other deliveries of medical aid to Lebanon from foreign countries have been delayed due to strikes near the airport.
“Access is becoming more and more difficult. The needs are growing in Deir Al-Ahmar. It’s up to us to try to get there, and to plan a way to be able to access in it a way that is reasonably safe,” he said.
Local volunteers are worried that the looming winter will cut off the only safe route into Deir Al-Ahmar, leaving them stranded.
“That road will close with the first snow. It will be like a siege,” said Khodr Zeaiter, a volunteer with LOST. Displaced himself, he is now helping to organize aid in Deir Al-Ahmar.
Beyond the immediate concerns of food and fuel, Zeaiter is worried about the education ministry’s directive that public schools — now hosting displaced — will need to reopen for students in three weeks.
Volunteers are studying the possibility of refurbishing an abandoned school to host morning and evening classes, he said.
“We’re grateful to the people of Deir Al-Ahmar so much. It’s their solidarity that has gotten us through this. But how long that will last — who knows.”

Colm McLoughlin, Irishman who led Dubai Duty Free to become an airport retail giant, dies at age 81

Updated 16 min 57 sec ago
AP
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Colm McLoughlin, Irishman who led Dubai Duty Free to become an airport retail giant, dies at age 81

  • Colm McLoughlin ran Dubai Duty Free from 1983 until he retired earlier this year
  • He helped lead Dubai Duty Free into becoming an airport retail behemoth generating billions of dollars
Updated 16 min 57 sec ago
AP

DUBAI: Colm McLoughlin, an Irishman who landed in the deserts of the United Arab Emirates and helped lead Dubai Duty Free into becoming an airport retail behemoth generating billions of dollars, has died. He was 81.
McLoughlin ran Dubai Duty Free from 1983 until he retired earlier this year, a span of over 40 years that saw Dubai grow from a creekside trading port into a modern metropolis, home to the world’s tallest building and other attractions.
And all the millions of passengers coming into Dubai International Airport, now the world’s busiest for international travel, saw the rows of electronics, cigarettes, cigars, alcohol and other goods available duty-free at his stores, hawked by a salesforce in green suit jackets, yellow ties and conversing in multiple languages.
“It’s a very Middle Eastern kind of thing,” McLoughlin told the Los Angeles Times in 1987 as he showed off its gold market. “We have to cater to a lot of tastes.”
Dubai Duty Free said in a statement that McLoughlin died Wednesday after a short illness, without elaborating. The operation’s new managing director, Ramesh Cidambi, praised McLoughlin for steering its “growth to a $2 billion dollar business with over 6,000 employees at the time of his retirement.”
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the CEO of long-haul carrier Emirates and chairman of Dubai Duty Free, offered his condolences.
“His passion, commitment and pioneering spirit have left a lasting legacy,” Sheikh Ahmed said in a post on the social platform X.
Born in Ballinasloe, Ireland, in 1943, McLoughlin joined Shannon Airport’s first-in-the-world duty-free operation in 1969. In July 1983, he came with a 10-man team to Dubai to set up the sandy airport’s duty-free operation. His six-month contract ended up stretching into 40 years.
Like the rest of the aviation industry, Dubai Duty Free took a hit during the years of the coronavirus pandemic and airline groundings. But sales have since bounced back. In 2023 alone, under McLoughlin, Dubai Duty Free sold 6 million cans of beer, 2.3 million bottles of whiskey, 2.3 million cartons of cigarettes, 10.2 million cigars and 3.3 million bottles of perfume.
One big segment has been Chinese travelers, after Dubai Duty Free worked to accept their credit cards, had staff speaking Mandarin and put in goods they wanted.
“We would be silly if we didn’t take advantage of it and try to serve them,” McLoughlin told The Associated Press in 2012.
And many a bleary-eyed traveler in Dubai’s cavernous airport tried their luck at the constant raffles being offered, whether for $1 million, a luxury automobile or a racing motorcycle.
McLoughlin also was known for Dubai Duty Free’s sponsorship of tennis and golf tournaments, as well as his work supporting Dubai’s Irish community. He received the Irish Presidential Distinguished Service Award in 2014.
“Colm McLoughlin has been an integral part of the Irish community in the UAE,” his award citation read. “Both in his highly successful professional career with Dubai Duty Free and in his leadership roles across almost every Irish organization, Colm McLouglin has played a hugely positive role in the promotion of Irish interests in the UAE.”
McLoughlin is survived by his wife Breeda, son Niall, daughters Tyna and Mandy, and their families.

Topics: Dubai Duty Free Colm McLoughlin Dubai UAE

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Urgent need for South Sudan food aid: WFP

Updated 39 min 35 sec ago
AFP
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Urgent need for South Sudan food aid: WFP

  • WFP said it would have to rely on expensive airdrops later in the year to reach isolated communities who are most at risk
  • Funds received before the end of this year would enable WFP to transport food by road during the dry season
Updated 39 min 35 sec ago
AFP

Nairobi: The UN World Food Programme made an urgent appeal Friday for donors to provide early funding for South Sudan, where millions are on the brink of starvation.
WFP said its stores of food supplies in South Sudan were empty and that it needed $404 million to prepare assistance for 2025 amid “spiralling operational costs and hunger.”
Without early funding, WFP said it would have to rely on expensive airdrops later in the year to reach isolated communities who are most at risk.
“It can take months to turn pledged donor funds into food in the hands of hungry people in South Sudan. The country’s limited road networks are impassable for much of the year — particularly in the east and central parts of the country where food insecurity is highest,” said Shaun Hughes, WFP’s acting country director for South Sudan, in a statement.
Funds received before the end of this year would enable WFP to transport food by road during the dry season from December to April.
“Airdrops are always (a) last resort for WFP. Every dollar spent on planes is a dollar not spent on food for hungry people,” said Hughes.
WFP said it had to double deliveries by airdrop in 2024, adding $30 million to its operational costs.
It said more than half — 56 percent — of people in South Sudan face crisis levels of hunger.
This is expected to worsen due to high inflation, flooding and people fleeing conflict in neighboring Sudan.
Since gaining independence in 2011, South Sudan has remained plagued by chronic instability, violence, economic stagnation and climate disasters.
Like other aid agencies, WFP’s resources have been stretched thin by multiple global crises.
It said only 2.7 million of the 7.1 million hungry people received assistance during South Sudan’s lean season in 2024, and most received half rations.

Topics: Sudan World Food Program

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47 Palestinians killed overnight in Israeli strikes in central Gaza, Palestinian news agency says

Updated 01 November 2024
Reuters
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47 Palestinians killed overnight in Israeli strikes in central Gaza, Palestinian news agency says

  • Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians and reduced most of the enclave to rubble
Updated 01 November 2024
Reuters

GAZA: Forty seven Palestinians were killed and dozens injured, most of them children and women, in overnight Israeli bombardment of the city of Deir Al-Balah, the Nuseirat camp and the town of Al-Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Friday.

The Gaza war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians and reduced most of the enclave to rubble, Palestinian authorities say.

At least 46 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, mostly in the north where one attack hit a hospital, torching medical supplies and disrupting operations, the enclave’s health officials said.

Israel’s military has accused the Palestinian militant group Hamas of using Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya for military purposes and said “dozens of terrorists” have been hiding there. Health officials and Hamas deny the assertion.

The health ministry in the Gaza Strip called for all international bodies “to protect hospitals and medical staff from the brutality of the (Israeli) occupation.”

Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on Thursday that one of its doctors at the hospital, Mohammed Obeid, had been detained last Saturday by Israeli forces. It called for the protection of him and all medical staff who “are facing horrific violence as they try to provide care.”

Topics: War on Gaza

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