Coronavirus: Yemen, Philippines close missions in Saudi Arabia

The Yemen embassy in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, is closing indefinitely due to several confirmed cases of the coronavirus among staff.

The embassy made the announcement on Twitter late on Saturday but did not specify how many people had contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

“The Embassy of the Republic of Yemen in Riyadh announces the suspension of services from tomorrow 14 June 2020 until an indefinite date, as a result of the discovery of a number of new coronavirus cases,” said the embassy in its announcement.

Similarly, the Philippine embassy announced that from Sunday, its office for labour affairs will close after a number of employees were tested for the coronavirus and six people were confirmed positive.

The office is being sterilised and employees were working remotely, according to the embassy.

Saudi Arabia’s coronavirus numbers continue to climb by more than 3,000 cases daily with more than 123,000 confirmed cases and 930 deaths overall.

The country of 34 million people recorded its first COVID-19 infection on March 2.

On March 16, Saudi Arabia suspended work in all government sectors except health and security as part of efforts to contain the pandemic. The kingdom topped 50,000 cases on May 16.

Although the kingdom has eased coronavirus-related restrictions across much of the country, the government announced on June 6 a renewed lockdown in the city of Jeddah.