Kuwait said it is suspending on Saturday all flights to and from seven countries, including Egypt, for a week in an effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, Kuwait's civil aviation directorate said in a tweet. The Gulf country said it is suspending all flights to and from Egypt, Bangladesh, the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Syria and Lebanon to "stem the spread of COVID-19 and protect the safety of public health". It added that it will bar entry to any nationality who have been in the mentioned countries in the last two weeks even if they hold valid residencies or visas. Only Kuwaiti nationals living in the specified countries will be allowed entry after undergoing necessary quarantine measures, the circular by the Kuwaiti civil aviation directorate read. Saturday's decision is a reversal of a previous decision seeing an ease on restrictions on travelers, including Egyptians, over coronavirus. Last Thursday, Kuwait suspended an earlier decision requiring some travellers to undergo a test for the new coronavirus to be allowed entry into the country. Several Gulf countries had introduced restrictions on travellers from Egypt over the outbreak, which has infected over 100,000 and killed over 3,000 globally. In the past weeks, Egypt had upped preventive measures at all entry points nationwide. It reported 12 new cases on Friday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 15 since the outbreak of the China originated virus last December.
