Saudi Arabia Confirms First Case of Coronavirus Infection

Saudi man recently had returned from Iran


In Saudi Arabia on Monday, workers in the Muslim holy city of Mecca cleaned the Grand Mosque, during the minor pilgrimage known as Umrah. Concerns have arisen that holy-site visits could help spread the coronavirus.


DUBAI—Saudi Arabia, home to Islamic holy sites that draw millions of people every year, confirmed the kingdom’s first case of coronavirus infection.

A Saudi man, who had traveled to Iran—the center of the outbreak in the Middle East—has been quarantined after being diagnosed with the disease, the Saudi health ministry said Monday.


The ministry said the man came back into the kingdom through Bahrain, but didn’t disclose his visit to Iran at the border.


Saudi Arabia last week imposed temporary restrictions for travel into the kingdom, including suspending all religious visits, to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. That came after neighboring countries including Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates all recorded numerous cases, some initially linked to travel to Iran.

Under the measures, the Saudi foreign ministry said Saudi nationals and citizens from neighboring Gulf countries wouldn’t be able to use their national identity cards to travel to and from the kingdom. The move would allow the authorities at entry points to verify from which countries visitors came before their arrival to the kingdom.

The government had granted exceptions, however, to Saudis returning home and Gulf citizens who were in the kingdom and wanted to return to their home countries, provided that they left or entered the kingdom using a national identity card.

Saudi Arabia receives more than seven million pilgrims each year. Its travel restrictions affect Umrah, a pilgrimage that can be performed throughout the year. The more important Hajj pilgrimage, the world’s largest annual Muslim gathering, starts in late July this year.

Religious pilgrimages have emerged as a new risk of the spread of the disease in the region.

Iran, itself home to several prominent Shiite religious sites, has reported at least 66 deaths so far from the virus, as it struggles to contain its spread from one of the country’s main pilgrimage cities believed to be the source of the outbreak.

Pilgrimage is a pillar of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to expand tourism as he revamps his country’s economy away from its dependence on oil. Religious tourism contributes around 20% of the kingdom’s non-oil growth domestic product, according to government figures.

Saudi Arabia introduced a new tourism visa last October for 49 countries. It has since granted 400,000 visas and aims to attract 100 million annual visits in 2030.

Tourism visa-holders from countries with reported coronavirus cases will also be denied entry, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said Thursday in a statement. It didn’t name the countries and said the measures were temporary and subject to continuous evaluation.

Kuwait has announced 56 coronavirus cases, while Bahrain said the number of those infected reached 49, with many of the infections occurring among people returning from Iran or who had had contact with the travelers. At least seven Saudis were among the coronavirus cases in both Gulf states. Iraq has confirmed 26 cases.


The United Arab Emirates, a transit hub in the region, has reported 21 cases so far, some of them Chinese visitors coming into the country.

WSJ