An American newspaper revealed that dozens of American diplomats and their families have started leaving Saudi Arabia, amid a rise in new cases of infections, including the emerging coronavirus (Covid-19).
The "Wall Street Journal" quoted US officials familiar with the plan as saying that the repatriation of diplomats began from today, after the State Department agreed last week to voluntary evacuation of its non-essential staff.
The newspaper pointed out that Saudi Arabia early adopted strict restrictions that helped it limit the spread of the virus, but it removed most of those restrictions last month in an effort to revive its economy.
This caused, according to the newspaper, the escalation of the infection, exceeding the total number of infected by the 200,000 barrier, after it was close to 90,000 in late May.
And the "Wall Street Journal" quoted sources described as well-informed, that a Saudi hospital refused to provide medical care for a family member of an American diplomat, prompting the embassy to intervene, while about 30 embassy employees, most of them non-Americans, were infected with the virus that killed a Sudanese driver working at the embassy.
A bleak picture
The newspaper "New York Times" reported last Wednesday that a report of the American embassy in Riyadh painted a bleak picture of the situation in Saudi Arabia due to the spread of Corona on a large scale.
The newspaper pointed out that the response of the Saudi government was not sufficient even with overcrowded hospitals and the spread of the disease among medical workers.
The New York Times said the situation was so bad that some at the embassy had taken an extraordinary step in passing information to Congress outside official channels.
Embassy officials stated that they do not believe that the leadership of the US State Department or the US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, John Abi Zaid, is taking it seriously enough, demanding that most embassy staff and their families be evacuated.