LOC17:05
14:05 GMT
BAGHDAD, Feb 2 (KUNA) -- The Iraqi government announced Sunday a sweeping ban on arrivals from China as authorities enforced measures to prevent spread of a new coronavirus.
The higher ministerial committee formed to take precautionary measures to confront the new coronavirus, directed all workers on land, in air and at marine ports to ban entry of arrivals from China, Iraqi Ministry of Interior said in a statement.
The ban will continue for a month from today, as extension is considered in accordance with the "disease developments," the statement added.
The committee also decided that the Ministry of Health should take necessary health measures regarding Iraqi citizens coming from China to Iraq directly or indirectly, and these procedures exclude diplomats and official delegations invited by the Iraqi government after proving being corona free, it added.
The Iraqi government had announced earlier that Iraq was free of infection with the emerging coronavirus, while tightening its precautionary measures at airports and border crossings. (end)
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