Saudi Arabia reports first coronavirus case

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia announced on Monday the detection of the first coronavirus case, a Saudi national traveling from Iran to the Kingdom through Bahrain, Saudi Press Agency reported.

The Saudi Ministry of Health announced on Monday the detection of the first Coronavirus (Covid-19) case of a Saudi national. The laboratory results confirmed the first case of infection with Covid-19 for a citizen, who did not declare at the Saudi port about his visit to Iran, the ministry said in a statement.

“Within the framework of the precautionary measures, the ministry sent an infection control team to examine the citizen and to take samples for laboratory tests in which it was confirmed that he was infected with the virus. The citizen has been quarantined in the hospital and is currently undergoing treatment,” the ministry said.

According to the ministry statement, samples were taken from all people who have had contacts with the infected person for laboratory tests at the Saudi Center for Disease Prevention and Control, and results will be announced upon completion of the tests.

The ministry called upon all people to contact its 937 Service Center for any queries about the virus while stressing that information should be taken from its official sources and not to believe in rumors.

Earlier in the day, Minister of Health Tawfiq Al-Rabiah had said that the Kingdom has not registered any confirmed cases of coronavirus after testing over 290 suspected cases.

Lauding the precautionary measures taken by the Kingdom since the appearance of the first coronavirus case in China, Al-Rabiah said: “We are closely monitoring all arrivals in the Kingdom, especially from the countries suffering from the disease.

All suspected cases are being thoroughly checked up to ensure they are safe. Till now 298 suspected cases have been tested and all of them were found to be safe.”

The minister added: “We have raised the level of health readiness to enhance prevention from the disease. We have formed a committee comprising 17 various authorities to monitor the situation. We are also working as one system to prevent infections and be prepared to deal with the disease in case of any appearance.”

“I advise all the citizens and expatriates to ask the Ministry of Health in case if they have any query about preventing infection of the disease,” the minister said.