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Saudi Arabia bans travel to India, 15 other countries amid rising Covid-19 cases

The travel ban comes at a time when the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia has assured citizens that zero monkeypox cases have been detected.

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Saudi Arabia is currently juggling to control a rapid increase in the number of Covid-19 cases. A closer look at the emerging infections in the past few weeks hints at a re-outbreak of Covid-19. Adhering to these concerns, the country has now banned its citizens from travelling to India and 15 other countries.

The kingdom has banned citizens to travel to a total of 16 countries, including Syria, Turkey, India, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Libya, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Vietnam, Armenia, Belarus, and Venezuela.

The travel ban comes at a time when the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia has assured citizens that zero monkeypox cases have been detected in the country. The Deputy Minister of Health for preventive health – Abdullah Asiri has said that the country is capable of monitoring and discovering any suspected cases of monkeypox. The kingdom is also capable of fighting against the virus if any new cases are found.

Also, READ: Sri Lanka crisis worsens! 2-day old infant dies as father couldn’t find petrol

"Until now, cases of transmission between humans are very limited, and therefore the possibility of any outbreaks occurring from it, even in countries that have detected cases, are very low," Asiri added.

Based on data from ANI, there are about 92 cases of monkeypox in 12 countries even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) is working to analyse the extent and reason of the outbreak.

Earlier, the WHO said that the virus is endemic in some animal populations in certain animal populations in several countries, which is why the outbreaks are happening among local people and travellers. The agency had also started investigating if monkeypox outbreaks are common among those who identify themselves as gay and bisexual.

Also, READ: Monkeypox less dangerous than Covid-19 despite higher fatality rate, claims expert

Meanwhile, the UN agency has warned that the Covid-19 pandemic is “most certainly not over”. This is despite the plunge in reported cases. As mentioned by the Director-General of WHO – Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, “we lower our guard at our peril.”

According to Tedros, reducing Covid-19 testing and sequencing implies that we are ignoring the evolution of the virus.

 

 

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