Saudi Arabia on Sunday imposed a lockdown on the Red Sea city of Jeddah, the fourth Saudi city to be subjected to the measure as the Gulf monarchy struggles to contain the coronavirus.
According to the Saudi State News Agency, SPA, entering and exiting Jeddah was banned as of Sunday.
Earlier, a nationwide night-time curfew was imposed and had been extended as of Sunday by four hours in Jeddah, a commercial hub.
The curfew now begins in Jeddah each day at 3:00 p.m (1200 GMT) and runs through until 6:00 a.m.
On Thursday, the Saudi authorities enforced a total lockdown on the capital, Riyadh, along with Makkah and Madinah, Islam’s two holiest cities, as part of tighter restrictions against the virus.
The kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, had already halted religious journeys to Makkah and Madinah.
SPA reported that Saudi Arabia had also renewed a halt to international and domestic flights as well as local transport until further notice.
However, the Saudi Health Ministry had announced four more deaths from Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, bringing the country’s death toll to eight.
The ministry also recorded 96 new virus cases.
The latest cases rose to 1,299 the overall infections in Saudi Arabia, the highest tally in an Arab country.
