KUWAIT: Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Mohammad Al-Sabah and Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus discussed Tuesday global conditions amidst spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Sheikh Ahmad, in his phone call with Ghebreyesus, called anew for collaboration of international efforts to fighting COVID-19 and WHO's vital role in this regard.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Dr Ahmad Al-Sabah met Tuesday with a team tasked with arranging repatriation of Kuwaiti citizens back home, to discuss means of guaranteeing safety of nationals until their return, a foreign ministry statement said. The meeting, attended by President of Kuwait Red Crescent Society Dr Helal Al-Sayer and Chairman of Kuwait Airways Yusuf Al-Jassem, touched upon completion of urgent measures to deal with latest developments related to the coronavirus, added the statement.

They also discussed coordination among relevant state bodies for the repatriation of Kuwaiti citizens. The meeting grouped representatives of the foreign, finance, interior, health and defense ministries, as well as Public Authority for Civil Information, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, KRCS, information technology agency and Kuwait Airways.

In other news, Kuwait Embassy in Washington called on Kuwaiti students who finished their university studies or due to graduate this semester to contact immigration authorities to extend their residency permits. The embassy, in a statement Tuesday, said those students should ask their universities to maintain their residency permit or reactivating it through the 'SEVIS' platform, in order to give the student more time to correct his legal residency status.

Those students, it added, should request an extension or change status of their residencies through: www.uscis.gov/i-539. If a request is submitted, said the embassy, his residency would not be considered expired until a decision adopted regarding his request. The embassy said the cultural offices would reach out to all students for clarifications. - KUNA