Kuwait, Russia asks citizens to avoid foreign travel over virus fears

Kuwait and Russia have called on its citizens to refrain from non-essential travel abroad to avoid contracting the coronavirus.

The total number of infections in the Gulf state is 45, with no new cases reported in the last 24 hours, a health official told the media.

Meanwhile, a senior Russian official asserted that the decision will help "protect" the citizens.

"Now is a time when it is not worth leaving Russia," he told local news agencies on Saturday.

The country has quarantined hundreds of people to prevent the spread of the virus, with three citizens receiving treatment after they contracted the virus on a cruise ship in Japan. Two Chinese nationals, who were earlier taken to hospital in Russia with the virus, have since recovered.

Elsewhere, Oman's health ministry on Saturday declared that a woman infected with the COVID-19 has recovered, with the total number of cases at six.

The country most affected by the outbreak in the Gulf region is Iran, with more than 40 deaths and several hundred confirmed infections.