The Libyan government decided on Sunday to suspend the entry of journalists coming from Italy due to the rapid outbreak of coronavirus inside a number of Italian and European cities.
In a statement, Malik al-Sharif, head of the General Department of External Information at the Libyan Foreign Ministry, said that the decision is temporary, noting that it also comes within the country’s precautionary measures to prevent the outbreak of the deadly virus inside its borders.
Al-Sharif pointed out that the decision to reject requests of some Italian media bodies to visit eastern and southern Libya, stems from the government’s national duty to maintain the safety of Libyan citizens.
The number of cases of the new coronavirus in Italy has exceeded 1,000, the health ministry said on Sunday, with the death toll rising by eight to 29 in the past 24 hours.
The number of cases has reached 1,128 since the start of the epidemic just over a week ago, up from 888 on Friday.
That number includes 50 people who had been infected but are now fully recovered.
It is worth mentioning that, the United States (US) confirmed first death from Coronavirus in Washington on Saturday, according to the Heath Department.
In a statement, it added that a person in Washington, near Seattle, has become the first in the country to die after contracting the deadly virus.
On the other hand, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that world countries should do more and prepare for a possible pandemic because of Coronavirus outbreak.
In an official statement, WHO said that it is too early to announce a pandemic now, but the countries should be in a “phase of preparedness”.
“The epidemic will be declared when the infectious disease is easily transmitted from person to person in many parts of the world,” the statement read.
More cases of the virus, which causes respiratory disease Covid-19, continue to emerge, with outbreaks in South Korea, Italy and Iran.
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