• The king praised the Saudi people for their strength during the virus outbreak

Arab News

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's King Salman gave a televised speech on Thursday regarding the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

The king said the Kingdom's government sectors, led by the Ministry of Health, would continue to take all precautionary measures to fight the pandemic.

King Salman also said that the Saudi people had shown strength in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, saying: “We rely on the resolve of our citizens and residents, their determination and sense of responsibility” to fight coronavirus.

The king expressed his thanks to the government bodies for their work during the outbreak, in particular professionals in the health sector.

The king said the authorities would provide everything that citizens and residents of the Kingdom required during the outbreak and said he would do everything to preserve the health of the nation.

Addressing the global disruption the virus had caused since the outbreak in China, King Salman said: “I say it in all frankness, the next stage will be more difficult on a global level.”

King Salman also received a telephone call from Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Thursday during which the two leaders discussed ways of cooperating and coordinating to fight the coronavirus outbreak and prevent its spread.

Coronavirus infections among the Gulf states now top 1,300, with one death in Bahrain. Many of the cases are linked to travel to Iran, an hotspot of the outbreak in the Middle East with 1,284 officially recorded deaths and more than 18,000 cases of infection.