RIYADH — The Ministry of Health confirmed that there has been no detection of mutated strain of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Saudi Arabia. "The aim of suspension of travel was to bring down the possibility of people infected with this variant of coronavirus entering the Kingdom," the spokesman of the ministry said, while stressing at the same time that coronavirus infections have been brought under control in the Kingdom. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday to brief on the developments related to the mutated strain of coronavirus, the ministry spokesman said that the proactive and preventive measures would contribute to the safety of society and achieve more gains to contain the pandemic, noting that the vaccine distribution plan is ongoing and has not undergone any changes. The ministry pointed out that thousands of coronavirus variants were recorded around the world and that did not have a clear impact on the speed or ferocity of the virus spreading. "The mutation strain recorded in Britain does not cause an increase in the death rate," the spokesman said. Regarding the possibility of imposing more precautionary measures and re-imposing curfews due to the outbreak of the coronavirus variant, the ministry affirmed that all the measures that have been taken are proactive to allow room for evaluation, noting that the ministry is working on reviewing and analyzing studies, and evaluating the final procedures appropriate to the situation. Meanwhile, the Saudi Embassy in London called on the Saudi citizens who are currently in Britain to follow strictly the precautionary measures issued by the British government, and to obtain information from official sources until the suspension decision is lifted and permission is granted to reschedule their trips.
