The ministry announced in a statement “the temporary suspension of entry of the Council’s citizens to the cities of Mecca and Medina.”
The GCC states are comprised of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar.
The ministry statement did not confirm whether this suspension extended to Saudi citizens.
But it said the decision excludes "GCC citizens who have been in the kingdom for 14 consecutive days and did not show signs of coronavirus infection".
The decision comes a day after the kingdom suspended visas for the year-round "umrah" pilgrimage, an unprecedented move that has left tens of thousands of pilgrims in limbo.
GCC citizens can enter the kingdom with their national identity document, but citizens of other countries require a visa.
Saudi Arabia has so far reported no coronavirus cases but there are mounting concerns over a spike in infections elsewhere in the Middle East.
The kingdom, which hosts millions of pilgrims every year in the cities of Mecca and Medina, on Thursday also suspended visas for tourists from countries affected by the virus as fears of a pandemic deepen.
In particular, electronic tourist visas for people arriving from seven countries, including China, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Kazakhstan, have been suspended, according to state media.
Saudi Arabia said the suspensions were temporary, but it provided no timeframe for when they will be lifted.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by LNP staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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