Gulf states extend precautions to shipping, public parks

Gulf states expanded measures against the new coronavirus yesterday with the United Arab Emirates shuttering several public venues including parks and the Abu Dhabi bourse trading hall, as infections continued to spread in the region.
Oman’s health ministry reported two more cases yesterday, including an Omani woman who had been in Italy.
The sultanate, which lies across the Gulf from Iran, banned ship-to-ship trade by open-deck boats with Iranian vessels, state media said.
The Ministry of Health in the Sultanate of Oman announced yesterday that the total number of cases has reached 22, QNA reported.
The Omani Ministry of Health called upon everyone to adhere to the quarantine procedures according to the guidelines, to avoid crowded public places, to follow healthy habits, and to follow preventive measures.
Oman will also suspend the entry of non-Gulf Arab citizens to the sultanate as of tomorrow as part of measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, state media reported. The government also ordered the suspension of Friday prayers, a ban on social gatherings such as weddings and funerals and the closure of public parks.
The new cases took the total number of infections in the six Gulf states to 872, with no deaths reported so far.
Many are linked to travel with Iran, which emerged as an epicentre for the disease in the Middle East.
Tehran yesterday raised its toll to 724 dead and more than 13,900 infected.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said  the government had no plans to quarantine Iranian cities because of the coronavirus outbreak, state TV reported.
In a rare phone call, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan told his Iranian counterpart Mohamed Javad Zarif the UAE was ready to help, stressing the need for global efforts to contain the disease, state media said yesterday.
Iranian media said Zarif thanked the UAE, which has facilitated medical supply shipments.
In regional tourism and business hub Dubai, there was a rush on supermarkets with many shoppers wearing masks and gloves, as the emirate joined the UAE capital Abu Dhabi in closing cinemas, arcades, spas, gyms and parks.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange said yesterday it was closing all its trading halls until further notice, a day after Kuwait’s bourse said it would do the same.
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have taken the most drastic steps among Gulf states by halting international passenger flights.
The UAE has also restricted entry visas. Emirates airline suspended more flights.
An American living in the Saudi capital Riyadh said his parents — in their 60s and 70s — cut short their visit and departed on Saturday before the kingdom’s two-week international flight suspension went into effect at 0800 GMT yesterday.
“I’m glad that they’re off even though it means 24 hours in the airport hotel in Dubai. Given their age and medical issues it’s definitely better than stuck here for weeks,” he said.
Two gated compounds in the capital Riyadh housing hundreds of expatriates have each reported one case among residents, according to e-mails from management seen by Reuters. Some compounds restricted residents’ movements and guest access.
Asked about those two cases, Saudi health ministry spokesman Mohamed Abdelali said all cases are announced as they are identified.
Saudi Arabia also ordered the closure yesterday of malls, restaurants, coffee shops and public parks and gardens, while exempting supermarkets, pharmacies and food delivery, in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus.
Several local municipalities tweeted the directives, which Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television said would apply across the country, where 103 infections but no deaths have been reported. The orders appeared to go into effect immediately. A diner in Riyadh told Reuters the restaurant she had been sitting in shuttered about 45 minutes before the announcement was made.
Saudi Arabia has 103 cases of the virus. Citizens and residents in Kuwait, which went into virtual lockdown on Thursday, had their temperatures tested before entering banks, where long queues formed yesterday after the state limited the number of operational branches.
Kuwait, where the flights ban began on March 13, has offered its citizens stranded at London’s Heathrow Airport paid accommodation at an airport hotel with three meals a day, according to an embassy notification seen by Reuters.