Oman Locks Down Muscat for 12 Days over Virus

Oman will ban movement into and out of the governorate of Muscat from April 10 until April 22, the high committee for combating the coronavirus outbreak said in a tweet on Wednesday.

Oman has registered 419 cases of the novel coronavirus, including 48 in the last 24 hours.

“Our biggest challenge is among expatriate workers,” Health Minister Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al-Saidi said in a radio interview, adding that the biggest spread in the sultanate was in the coastal commercial area of Muttrah, located in Muscat governorate, where a lockdown was imposed last week.

He said authorities would ramp up testing as the number of cases was expected to peak this month, and that Oman had secured lab equipment and protective gear from China.

Gulf states recorded new cases on Wednesday to raise the total number of infections in the six countries to over 9,800, with 67 deaths.

The United Arab Emirates, which saw its count more than double in the past week, on Wednesday reported 300 more cases to take its tally to 2,659.