Persian Gulf region reports first coronavirus death as containment measures extended

Dubai — The Persian Gulf region has reported its first coronavirus death in Bahrain as governments extend measures to combat the virus' spread as the number of registered infections spiraled to over 960.

In Qatar, the government has announced a Riyals 75 billion ($20.6 billion) stimulus package to support its economy, following in the footsteps of the UAE's Dirhams 100 billion ($27.2 billion) and Saudi Arabia's Riyals 50 billion ($13.3 billion) plans announced over the weekend. Qatar will from Wednesday suspend all incoming flights for a 14-day period that can be extended, except for cargo and transit flights.

Qatar is the hardest hit country in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, with over 400 confirmed cases, while Oman is the least affected with some 22 cases. The other members of the group are Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait.

Abu Dhabi, the biggest emirate in the seven-member UAE federation, announced on Monday 16 measures aimed at shoring up its private sector economy, days after the Central Bank of the UAE announced a $27.2-billion stimulus package to help banks across the country provide relief to the private sector. Abu Dhabi is also closing one of the three terminals at its international airport.

Dubai, the second biggest city in the UAE and its tourism and financial hub, on Monday closed the trading floor of its stock exchange, a day after the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange took a similar measure. Dubai is also closing all bars and lounges until the end of the month after announcing it was shutting down cinemas, gyms, theme parks and other entertainment centers.

In Saudi Arabia, the government has decided to close malls and commercial markets, excluding pharmacies and food supply stores, while government agencies will suspend work for 16 days, except for the health, security and military sectors.

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have implemented the most drastic measures of the GCC states. Kuwait on March 12 started a two-week public holiday, after suspending all international flights, except cargo.

Saudi Arabia began its suspension of international flights on Sunday and has already locked down the eastern oil-producing region of Qatif, where Saudi Aramco has major facilities.

Meanwhile, the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq is in near lock-down, while the country's capital, Baghdad, is imposing a curfew from March 17 until March 24. Iraq has already closed all nine border posts with Iran, where over 850 deaths from coronavirus have been reported.

All these measures are expected to hit oil demand in the Middle East, according to the latest S&P Global Platts Analytics estimates.

Total oil product demand in the Middle East will likely fall 0.6% year on year to average 9.7 million b/d in the first half of this year, it said. The drop compares with 1.1% year-on-year growth in the first half of 2019. For the whole of 2020, total oil product demand will likely drop by 0.2% year on year to 9.8 million b/d compared with 0.9% year-on-year growth last year.