• Kingdom places travel restrictions on GCC residents and citizens who have been outside Gulf countries
• Some 1,400 isolation rooms had been set up in the Kingdom’s hospitals

ARAB NEWS, RIYADH

Saudi Arabia has quarantined 70 people who had been in physical contact with a patient who was infected with the coronavirus, a health official said on Tuesday.

The Kingdom also barred GCC citizens and residents from entering Saudi Arabia for 14 days after returning from outside Gulf countries, Saudi Press Agency reported.

Saudi Arabia announced its first coronavirus case on Monday - a Saudi who had traveled from Iran via Bahrain over the King Fahad Causeway. Iran has one of the worst outbreaks outside of China where COVID-19 originated.

A Saudi Ministry of Health spokesman on Tuesday said the infected person iwas in a stable condition and is being monitored by medical staff.

Additional precautionary measures have been taken at border entry points for people coming from countries affected by coronavirus, the spokesperson said.

The ministry said 1,400 isolation rooms had been set up in the Kingdom’s hospitals to receive patients with severe symptoms.