SAUDI Arabia has banned the export of all medicines and medical equipment decreeing that everything must be kept internal to enable local health authorities combat domestic incidences of the coronavirus outbreak.
Although the kingdom has not suffered any deaths so far, Saudi Arabia’s total number of coronavirus cases has reached 274. As a precaution, the country has suspended all hajj pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina and shut down all its religious sites, highly popular with Muslim tourists until further notice.
This morning, the Saudi authorities decided to take matters a step further by commandeering all medicines and medical equipment in the country. Other measures the Saudis have already taken include imposing travel restrictions, suspending international flights and offering free sanitisers.
On March 11, the World Health Organisation declared coronavirus a pandemic as since its outbreak about a month ago, more than 240,000 people have been infected worldwide. So far, the virus has spread to 183 countries and there have been over 10,000 fatalities.
