CAIRO – Several Arab countries took preventive measures on Monday after a new coronavirus strain was detected in the United Kingdom, while the Gulf’s major stock markets dropped in the wake of the news.

Authorities in Oman decided “to prohibit entry to and exit from the Sultanate” for a week as of Dec. 22 at 1:00 am local time, the state-run ONA reported.

The measure was taken after the detection of the new strain in the UK in order to prevent “the fierce virus attack and fast propagation,” the source added.

Oman had taken some of the strictest travel restrictions when the virus was first detected. It had closed its borders since mid-March until a couple of weeks ago.

So far, Oman has reported nearly 128,000 coronavirus cases and 1,488 deaths.

The Kuwaiti government’s communication center, meanwhile, announced on its Twitter account the “suspension of commercial flights from and to the Kuwait International Airport” as well as “the closure of all border routes, both land and sea.”

The measures will come into force as of 11:00 pm local time until Jan. 1, the statement ran.

Kuwait, with nearly 148,000 cases and 921 deaths, also closed the borders in mid-March, but it was reopened on Aug. 1.

In the meantime, the spokesperson for the Jordanian government Ali al-Ayed announced on Monday the suspension of “direct and indirect” flights from the United Kingdom on starting Monday until Jan. 3.

The ban could be extended, depending “on available reliable scientific information on the repercussions of the virus mutation,” the state-run Petra news agency cited the spokesperson as saying.

Jordan adopted some of the severest measures in March, when it imposed a total lockdown and a six-month flight ban.

Sudan’s civilian aviation authority decided to ban entry of passengers coming from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and South Africa, which announced it had detected a new strain.

The measure applies to travelers from these three countries “regardless of their nationalities, either through direct or indirect flights,” as of Wednesday until Jan. 5, the Sudanese civil aviation authorities said in a statement.

The United Arab Emirates’ Etihad airline announced that passengers coming from the United Kingdom will have to produce a negative PCR test.

These measures came a day after Saudi Arabia decided to suspend all entries to the country by land, sea or air for a period of one week, which could be extended to two weeks.

In the wake of the discovery of the new strain, major stock markets in the Gulf Corporation Countries fell.

Dubai’s main share index closed at -3.84% down, meanwhile Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange fell by -0.79%.

Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul closed on -2.30% lower than the previous day, Qatar Stock Exchange closed by -0.44% lower and Bahrain closed -0.32% lower.

Kuwait’s index closed by -0.59% lower, while Oman’s Muscat securities market closed -0.20% lower.