Saudi Cordons Off Shiite-Majority Region Due to Coronavirus

Saudi authorities have cordoned off eastern Qatif region, a stronghold of the kingdom's Shiite minority, in a bid to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus, the interior ministry said Sunday.

"Given that all 11 recorded positive cases of the new coronavirus are from Qatif... it has been decided... to temporarily suspend entry and exit from Qatif," the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Arabia has expressed alarm over the spread of the disease across the Gulf region, which has confirmed more than 230 coronavirus cases -- most of them people returning from religious pilgrimages to Shiite-majority Iran.

Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province -- which includes Qatif -- has seen bouts of unrest since 2011 when protesters emboldened by the Arab Spring uprisings took to the streets.

Demonstrators have demanded an end to what they say is discrimination by the Sunni-dominated government, a charge Riyadh denies.

The lockdown on Qatif comes after the kingdom suspended the "umrah" year-round pilgrimage over fears of the disease spreading to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

The unprecedented suspension of the umrah has raised uncertainty over the annual hajj pilgrimage, scheduled for the end of July.

The pilgrimages, a major source of revenue, could also be a source of contagion and the move mirrors a precautionary approach across the Gulf to cancel mass gatherings -- from concerts to sporting events.

Bahrain's Formula 1 Grand Prix scheduled for March 20-22 will be held without spectators, the organizers said Sunday in the latest sporting event to be affected by measures to contain the disease.

Saudi Arabia is also grappling with a coronavirus-led slump in oil prices just as the kingdom was seeking to raise funds to finance Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious economic transformation plan.