Kuwait will suspend all passenger flights from March 13 until further notice, one of the more extreme measures taken by any country to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus by air travel.

The ban will primarily affect the country’s main gateway, Kuwait International Airport (KWI), and the two airlines based there, Kuwait Airways and LCC Jazeera Airways.

Cargo flights will still be allowed to operate.

Jazeera confirmed it has cancelled all flights until the end of March.

The Kuwait civil aviation regulator had already suspended passenger flights from Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Lebanon, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Syria, citing COVID-19.

According to the World Health Organization—which has now declared the outbreak a pandemic—Kuwait has reported 69 cases of COVID-19.

Photo credit: Kuwait Airways