Qatar has evacuated all its citizens in Iran over coronavirus fears and brought them back to Doha, the Government Communications Office (GCO) confirmed in a press release.

All those brought back on Thursday will be quarantined in a local hotel for 14 days.
"A hotel has been set up as a quarantine facility to be used by the Qatari citizens for a 14-day period and will be cared for and monitored by medical. Additionally, they have also been provided with all necessities," the statement read.

The GCO reiterated that no cases of the novel coronavirus had been diagnosed in Qatar and "encouraged individuals to refer to official information and to not rely on or distribute unconfirmed or unofficial information".

The coronavirus has steadily spread in the Middle East over the past week, with Iran reporting the highest number of cases - 388 confirmed cases and 34 deaths as of Friday.

SOURCE: ALJAZEERA