Saudi Arabia on Monday announced its first case of the new coronavirus, a Saudi national returning from Iran through Bahrain, the Health Ministry said.
The ministry said on its official Twitter account that the individual, who is in quarantine in hospital, had not disclosed his visit to Iran when entering Saudi Arabia.
Iran has reported the most deaths from the coronavirus outside China, where the flu-like disease originated. Other Gulf Arab states have diagnosed the infection in several people who had visited Iran.
The official Saudi Press Agency, citing the Health Ministry, said people who had interacted with the infected man had been isolated and were being tested.
In neighboring Bahrain, the health ministry said on Monday two more people were diagnosed with the coronavirus, a Bahraini woman and a Saudi man, both of whom it said took non-direct flights from Iran to Bahrain and were isolated upon arrival and tested. This brings the total recorded cases in Bahrain to 49.
Saudi Arabia had since last week taken several measures to prevent the spread of the disease to the Kingdom.
It imposed a ban on foreigners arriving for the umrah pilgrimage, Gulf Arab citizens visiting Makkah and Madinah, and tourists from at least 25 states where the virus has been found.
The Health Ministry said on Sunday it had prepared 25 hospitals to handle any coronavirus infections, with 2,200 beds dedicated for quarantine cases.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz later received a telephone call from King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, who expressed his support for the Kingdom's preventative measures against the coronavirus.
