Governor of Saudi capital Riyadh, 150 members of royal family infected with coronavirus: Report

Saudi Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the governor of capital city Riyadh, is in intensive care after contracting coronavirus while about a dozen other members of the royal family too could be infected with the deadly disease, The New York Times has reported citing various sources, including doctors in the country and those familiar with the family.

As many as 150 royals in the kingdom are believed to have contracted the virus, including members of its lesser branches, according to a person close to the family.

According to the report, King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) have isolated themselves. Meanwhile, doctors at a hospital catering to the royals are preparing 500 beds for the expected influx of infected patients.

In a "high alert" sent out by operators at the hospital, called the King Faisal Specialist Hospital, authorities told senior doctors that "directives are to be ready for VIPs around the country".

"We don't know how many cases we will get but high alert," the message read, adding that all the chronic patients need to be "moved out ASAP". An infected staff member, meanwhile, will be treated at a less elite hospital to save room for the royals.

While the report suggests that, for now, lower members of the Royal family have been infected, the 84-year-old King Salman has secluded himself on an island off the coast of Jeddah while the Crown Prince has moved to a an undisclosed location on Red Sea coast.

According to the report, the Kingdom has so far reported over 2,000 positive cases and 41 deaths. Saudi Arabia is home to the holy Mecca and Medina, but this year they have banned the annual Umrah pilgrimage. No decision, as of yet, has been announced regarding the Hajj pilgrimage, scheduled for the end of July.

A spokesman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.