<p>Saudi Arabia on Sunday halted international flights and suspended entry through its land and sea ports for at least a week, after a new fast-spreading strain of coronavirus appeared in Britain.</p>.<p>The kingdom is "temporarily suspending all international flights -- except in exceptional cases -- for a period of one week, which can be extended by another week," the official Saudi Press Agency said.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/coronavirus-updates-cases-deaths-country-wise-worldometers-info-data-covid-19-834531.html" target="_blank"><strong>15 countries with the highest number of cases, deaths due to the Covid-19 pandemic</strong></a></p>.<p>"Entry to the kingdom through land and sea ports will also be suspended for a week, which can be extended by another week," SPA added, citing the interior ministry.</p>.<p>The suspension does not apply to international aircraft currently in the kingdom, which will be allowed to leave, SPA said.</p>.<p>The development comes after several European countries banned travel from Britain on Sunday as the UK government warned that a highly infectious new strain of the virus was "out of control".</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/coronavirus-live-news-covid-19-latest-updates.html" target="_blank"><strong>CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH</strong></a></p>.<p>SPA said passengers who arrived in Saudi Arabia from Europe -- or any country where the new strain was detected -- starting December 8 will be required to self isolate for two weeks, and undergo testing.</p>.<p>Neighbouring Kuwait also announced a ban on Sunday on passenger flights from Britain over the new strain of the virus.</p>.<p>Alarm bells are ringing across Europe -- which last week became the first region in the world to pass 500,000 deaths from Covid-19 -- after it appeared that a more infectious strain of the virus was raging in parts of Britain.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_blank"><strong>For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here</strong></a></p>.<p>Last week, Saudi Arabia kicked off a three-phase Covid-19 vaccination programme, after the first shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arrived in the kingdom.</p>.<p>Saudi Arabia has so far recorded more than 361,000 novel coronavirus cases, including more than 6,000 deaths -- the highest among the Gulf Arab states. But the kingdom has also reported a high recovery rate.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia on Sunday halted international flights and suspended entry through its land and sea ports for at least a week, after a new fast-spreading strain of coronavirus appeared in Britain.</p>.<p>The kingdom is "temporarily suspending all international flights -- except in exceptional cases -- for a period of one week, which can be extended by another week," the official Saudi Press Agency said.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/coronavirus-updates-cases-deaths-country-wise-worldometers-info-data-covid-19-834531.html" target="_blank"><strong>15 countries with the highest number of cases, deaths due to the Covid-19 pandemic</strong></a></p>.<p>"Entry to the kingdom through land and sea ports will also be suspended for a week, which can be extended by another week," SPA added, citing the interior ministry.</p>.<p>The suspension does not apply to international aircraft currently in the kingdom, which will be allowed to leave, SPA said.</p>.<p>The development comes after several European countries banned travel from Britain on Sunday as the UK government warned that a highly infectious new strain of the virus was "out of control".</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/coronavirus-live-news-covid-19-latest-updates.html" target="_blank"><strong>CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH</strong></a></p>.<p>SPA said passengers who arrived in Saudi Arabia from Europe -- or any country where the new strain was detected -- starting December 8 will be required to self isolate for two weeks, and undergo testing.</p>.<p>Neighbouring Kuwait also announced a ban on Sunday on passenger flights from Britain over the new strain of the virus.</p>.<p>Alarm bells are ringing across Europe -- which last week became the first region in the world to pass 500,000 deaths from Covid-19 -- after it appeared that a more infectious strain of the virus was raging in parts of Britain.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_blank"><strong>For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here</strong></a></p>.<p>Last week, Saudi Arabia kicked off a three-phase Covid-19 vaccination programme, after the first shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arrived in the kingdom.</p>.<p>Saudi Arabia has so far recorded more than 361,000 novel coronavirus cases, including more than 6,000 deaths -- the highest among the Gulf Arab states. But the kingdom has also reported a high recovery rate.</p>