S Arabia cordons off Qatif

RIYADH: Saudi authorities have cordoned off eastern Qatif region, a stronghold of the kingdom´s minority, in a bid to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus, the interior ministry said on Sunday.

“Given that all 11 recorded positive cases of the new coronavirus are from Qatif... it has been decided... to temporarily suspend entry and exit from Qatif,” the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Arabia has expressed alarm over the spread of the disease across the Gulf region, which has confirmed more than 230 coronavirus cases – most of them people returning from religious pilgrimages to Iran. Saudi Arabia´s Eastern Province – which includes Qatif – has seen bouts of unrest since 2011 when protesters emboldened by the Arab Spring uprisings took to the streets. Demonstrators have demanded an end to what they say is discrimination by the government, a charge Riyadh denies.

The lockdown on Qatif comes after the kingdom suspended the “umrah” year-round pilgrimage over fears of the disease spreading to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.