Saudi Arabia : Lockdown During Eid Celebration

Saudi Arabia : Lockdown During Eid Celebration

To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, The Government of Saudi Arabia will impose a national lockdown policy during the Eid holiday. On Tuesday (12/5), The Ministry of Home Affairs took the decision when the amount of virus exposure jumped. Among Gulf Region countries, Arabia is currently the country with the highest Covid-19 confirmed case.

Cited from the ministry statement released by the Saudi Arabian news agency, a full lockdown will be imposed in the country on May 23-27 to coincide with the day of Eid celebration.

The partial lockdown has been carried out in many locations, but since last month the government relaxed the restrictions at 9 am to 5 pm. Malls and shops have reopened, except in certain locations, including Mecca, which is a high-case area, despite strict local lockouts. To control the spread of the coronavirus, the Saudis also are closing cinemas and restaurants and stopping flights.

The Ministry of Health said the number of Covid-19 deaths rose to 264 from a total of 42,925 cases, while 15,257 people had recovered. Saudi Arabia had previously stopped its Umrah activities for fear of spreading diseases in the holy city of Mecca. 

Authorities have not yet announced Hajj activities this year, which are scheduled to take place at the end of July. Nevertheless Muslims in the world are expected to temporarily delay the preparation of the pilgrimage.

Last year there were at least 2.5 million Muslims visiting Arabia to run the fifth Pillar of Islam. Raja Salman has warned of the complicated situation that will be faced as a result of this pandemic, because in addition to the people's health and safety issues there are also problems with falling oil prices and hitting the economy.

Source: http://shorturl.at/aklqP