Covid-19 new strain: Kuwait joins Oman, Saudi in suspending flights, closing its borders

Kuwait has become the third GCC state to close its borders and suspend all international flights due to concerns about the new strain of Covid-19.

The GCC state will be suspending commercial flights from and to Kuwait International Airport and closing the land and sea border crossings from 11pm on Monday, December 21, 2020, until Friday, January 1, 2021, the government communications office announced.

Suspending commercial flights from and to Kuwait International Airport and closing the land and sea border crossings from 11:00 pm today, December 21, 2020, until Friday, January 1, 2021#CGCKuwait pic.twitter.com/zly14NXGms

— مركز التواصل الحكومي (@CGCKuwait) December 21, 2020

The announcement from Kuwait comes after Saudi Arabia and Oman took similar measures following the outbreak of a new strain of Covid-19.

Saudi Arabia closed all borders for one week, with the possibility of extending the suspension by an additional week.

Read: Saudi suspends all international flights, closes land and sea ports over new virus strain

Oman also said the closure would last for one week, but said cargo services will be allowed to operate.

Read: Covid-19 new strain: Oman to close all its borders for a week

The measures come after the UK government warned that the new virus strain is “out of control”.

Several European countries including France and Germany as well as others such as Turkey and Canada have suspended travel to and from the UK.