Saudi Arabia is suspending all domestic flights, buses, taxes, and trains for a period of 14 days starting on Saturday, 21 March to reduce transmission of the novel coronavirus disease, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Friday citing a source in the interior ministry.
The measure does not include flights related to humanitarian and necessary cases, medical evacuation aircraft and private aviation, the source said.
On Thursday, the Kingdom reported 36 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to 274, according to the SPA citing the Saudi Ministry of Health. New cases included 17 people who recently travelled to Morocco, Britain, Spain, Iran, Pakistan, Kuwait, Iraq, India, the United States of America and Egypt.
Globally, the virus has infected more than 209,800 people, with over 8,770 fatalities registered so far, according to the latest data provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO). On 11 March, the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.
