RIYADH — The Saudi authorities have clarified that passengers holding employment visa, work visit visa, business visit visa and family visit visa are exempted from the travel restrictions imposed by the Kingdom on Thursday. Saudi Arabian Airlines said in a statement that the national carrier has received directive from the concerned authorities in this regard. All the above visa holders will be allowed to enter the Kingdom until further notice. Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Passports (Jawazat) stated that holders of multiple reentry visit visas, who left the Kingdom, can reenter the country provided that they did not visit any of the countries affected by the new Coronavirus during the period of two weeks before their arrival in the Kingdom. According to the new travel restrictions, all nationals of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have to travel by using their passports to and from Saudi Arabia and that national ID is not permitted effective from Thursday except for the passengers who traveled to or from Saudi Arabia by using the national ID before the announcement. Therefore, they are permitted to return to their home country by using the national ID. The travel restrictions stipulate that tourism visa has been suspended for all passengers and airline crew coming from countries such as China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Iran, Italy, South Korea, Macao, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Philippines, Singapore, India, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Somalia and Vietnam. Meanwhile, Minister of Health Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah chaired on Thursday the 8th meeting of the higher level committee concerned with following up of the Coronavirus related health situation in the Kingdom. The meeting reviewed the global situation and followed up the implementation of the recommendations adopted during the previous meetings. The meeting examined implementation of the Ministry of Education’s awareness program among all schools and universities against the epidemic.