Saudi Arabia has imposed a travel ban on Kenya and several other countries in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19).
The ban affects almost all European countries, 12 from Asia and a couple from Africa. They include Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya, and Somalia.
Thousands of Kenyans travel to Saudi Arabia all year round in search of employment opportunities. No case of the disease has been reported in Kenya.
The Kingdom has so far confirmed 45 cases of coronavirus and the travel ban comes after two people were diagnosed after returning home from Iraq and Iran.
More than 21 people are said to have been infected with the highly contagious disease after they came into contact with an Egyptian who was visiting a family member.
Saudi Arabia has closed down all schools, banned religious lessons in all mosques, and reduced the time taken for Friday prayer sermons to 15 minutes in an effort to stop new infections.
The death toll from the dreaded virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, currently stands at over 4,600 people while more than 126,000 have been infected in over 100 countries. Most of the fatalities and infections are in mainland China
