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Agence France-Presse

Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor on Thursday ordered the arrest of two people who appeared in a video drinking a disinfectant in a bid to stave off the new coronavirus.
The young men were separately seen gulping down a steriliser in a video that went viral, triggering a flurry of angry comments online.
On Twitter, the public prosecution office said it ordered the men to be arrested for “drinking a disinfectant that is not suitable for human consumption” and “misleading people that it will protect them from the coronavirus”.
One Twitter user demanded the “most severe punishment” for the duo, saying they put other young people at risk as they could be tempted to imitate them.


Saudi Arabia has reported 274 coronavirus cases but no deaths so far.
The Arab world’s biggest economy has shut down cinemas, shopping centres and restaurants, halted flights and suspended the year-round umrah pilgrimage in a bid to contain the deadly virus.
Why whisky could kill the coronavirus (but not if you drink it)
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday suspended prayers inside all its mosques except the holiest two sites in Islam as it steps up efforts to contain the virus.
More than 1,000 cases of the virus have been recorded so far across the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

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Coronavirus pandemic

Saudi Arabia orders duo arrested for drinking disinfectant to ward off coronavirus

Disinfectant is in great demand because of the coronavirus outbreak, but is not meant for consumption. Photo: EPA-EFE

Online prices of liquid soap, disinfectants, toilet paper soar in Hong Kong as coronavirus fuels panic buying, even robbery

Shoppers with their hoard of toilet paper rolls outside a Wellcome supermarket in Causeway Bay on 15 February 2020. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Residents in Tsing Yi purchase bleach from a supermarket in the neighbourhood of Cheung Hong Estate. Several residents in Cheung Hong Estate have been confirmed to have infected with coronavirus. 13FEB20 SCMP / Winson Wong

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Indonesians stranded after Saudi Arabia suspends umrah pilgrimage over coronavirus fears

Pilgrims seen in masks at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca on February 28, 2020. Photo: AFP

Sanitation workers clean the area outside the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque complex in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca on February 27, 2020. - Saudi Arabia on February 27 suspended visas for visits to Islam's holiest sites for the "umrah" pilgrimage, an unprecedented move triggered by coronavirus fears that raises questions over the annual hajj. The kingdom, which hosts millions of pilgrims every year in the cities of Mecca and Medina, also suspended visas for tourists from countries affected by the virus as fears of a pandemic deepen. (Photo by Haitham EL-TABEI / AFP)

Muslim pilgrims wear masks at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca on February 28, 2020. - Saudi Arabia suspended visas for visits to Islam's holiest sites for the "umrah" pilgrimage, an unprecedented move triggered by coronavirus fears that raises questions over the annual hajj. The kingdom, which hosts millions of pilgrims every year in the cities of Mecca and Medina, also suspended visas for tourists from countries with reported infections as fears of a pandemic deepen. (Photo by Abdel Ghani BASHIR / AFP)

DJI drones to cover a square mile in disinfectant to stop coronavirus

Drones are also being used to disperse public gatherings, including interrupting popular mahjong games in the streets. (Picture: AFP)

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World

Middle East


Public prosecutor says men who made widely shared video were ‘misleading people’ and drinking liquid ‘not suitable for human consumption’
Arab world’s biggest economy has shut down cinemas, shopping centres and restaurants, halted flights and suspended the year-round umrah pilgrimage



Public prosecutor says men who made widely shared video were ‘misleading people’ and drinking liquid ‘not suitable for human consumption’.
