‘Saudi closed border’



Kuwait’s Ministry of Health announced Thursday morning that a total of 43 people are now confirmed to be infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus. All those infected are under medical care.

Meanwhile, the Civil Service Commission announced suspending the use of the biometric fingerprint system for employees access registration at all state departments starting March 1.

In the meantime, the education ministry said it has shifted all finals tests for all school stages to after the Eid holiday. The teaching curriculum will also be adjusted to accommodate the change in schedules, while a plan to implement preventive measures against the spread of the virus in school will be put in place at all schools, the ministry announced Thursday.

An unknown number of citizens remain in quarantine at local hotels and in their homes.


  • Auto repair worker wearing protective mask, sit outside his shop in Kuwait City on February 27, 2020.
  • People cross the street wearing protective masks, in Kuwait City on February 27, 2020.
  • A Kuwaiti man wearing protective mask, shops in a gold marke in Kuwait City on February 27, 2020.

In the meantime, Kuwait has ordered its citizens leaving the country to GCC states or coming back from there to use their passports instead of their civil IDs so that authorities can verify their transactions and make sure about their potential visit to countries hit by the coronavirus. This decision Kuwait's interior ministry announced Thursday also includes GCC nationals wishing to visit Kuwait. However, it does not include citizens who are already in a GCC country and have used their IDs in their exit, nor does it include GCC citizens currently visiting Kuwait and who have used their IDs to enter.

In related news, Saudi Arabia has suspended entry to the country for the purpose of umrah and visiting the Prophet’s Mosque temporarily, suspended entry for tourist visas for those coming from countries in which the spread of the new coronavirus is a danger, and suspended use by Saudi nationals and citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council states of the national identity card to travel to and from the Kingdom, with a few exceptions reported the Saudi Press Agency.

Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has also announced that Doha will evacuate any Qatari nationals and Kuwaiti nationals remaining in Iran, which has been badly hit by the virus.