Saudi King, Crown Prince go into isolation as coronavirus infects 150 royal family members
It has now come to light that up to 150 members of the royal family of Saudi Arabia are infected with the novel coronavirus.
According to a report by The New York Times, King Salman and Prince Mohammed bin Salman have already gone into isolation to avoid the risk of contracting the disease.
At the royal King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, doctors are reportedly preparing 500 more beds expecting a wave of coronavirus patients.
"Directives are to be ready for VIPs from around the country," operators of the facility wrote in a "high alert" memo sent out to senior doctors on Tuesday, which was later obtained by The Times.
According to the newspaper, the message said all chronic patients were to be moved out as soon as possible to accommodate only the top urgent cases, albeit admitting they don't know how many cases they will get.
Furthermore, any staff members at King Faisal who are infected will be treated at a less elite hospital to reserve rooms for royal family members.
“If it is reaching into the family, then it becomes an urgent issue,” Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a professor at Rice University who studies the kingdom, told the paper.
King Salman, 84, has already isolated himself on an island palace near Jeddah. Meanwhile, the crown prince has relocated to an undisclosed location on the Red Sea coast.
According to The Times, there are thousands of princes in the royal family, many of whom frequently travel to Europe. It has been suggested that's where they were exposed to the deadly virus.
The newspaper also reported that Saudi Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud - the governor of capital Riyadh who is in his 70s - is in intensive care after contracting coronavirus.
According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins, Saudi Arabia has reported 3,287 cases and 44 deaths as of April 10 morning.
A source told The Times that it's mostly members of lower branches of the royal family that have contracted coronavirus thus far.
Saudi Arabia's health minister revealed earlier this week that they are expecting up to 200,000 coronavirus cases in the coming weeks.
"Within the next few weeks, studies predict the number of infections will range from a minimum of 10,000 to a maximum of 200,000," said minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah, according to the state media.
Rabiah said the projection was based on four studies conducted by Saudi and overseas experts, adding that the kingdom faces a "critical moment" in tackling the outbreak.
Meanwhile, the interior minister has imposed a 24-hour curfew on some Saudi cities, including the capital of Riyadh.
Among those cities under lockdown are Tabuk, Dammam, Dhahran, Hofuf, and some regions of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif, and Khobar, according to the newspaper.
It was also recently reported that the holy cities of Mecca and Medina have been sealed off from the public, casting doubts over this year's Hajj pilgrimage. For now, religious authorities are urging Muslims around the world to temporarily defer preparations for the annual event. They are yet to establish whether the pilgrimage will take place.