Saudi reimposes curfew in Jeddah; curbs on private and public sector operations

Saudi Arabia has reimposed a partial curfew across the governorate of Jeddah for a period of two weeks  from June 6-20 to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

The curfew will be in effect daily from 3pm-6am.

An official at the Ministry of Interior said that a decision has been made to suspend prayers in mosques across the governorate, reported Saudi Press Agency.

Dining in at restaurants and cafes have also been suspended and gatherings of more than five people have been banned.

People can still enter and exit the city outside of the curfew hours, with domestic flights and trains continuing to operate.

Those individuals who were exempted from the movement restrictions will continue to be exempted from the latest curfew restrictions, but must abide by control measures established by authorities in the kingdom.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development also confirmed that with regards to the public sector, attendance for workplaces in Jeddah governorate is suspended for all employees from June 6-20.

An exception will be made for certain high-ranking officials such as directors and above.

In Makkah too, attendance at workplaces for all public sector employees will continue to be suspended.

As for the rest of the cities and governorates across the kingdom, the attendance of public sector employees will be a maximum of 50 per cent of the total employees, with the rest working remotely.

Similarly for the private sector too in the Jeddah governorate, employees will not work from the office for two weeks starting from June 6.

On June 6, Saudi Arabia reported 3,121 new Covid-19 cases and 34 deaths – the highest number of daily Covid-19 infections and deaths reported since the outbreak of the virus in the kingdom.

Of the new cases, 900 were recorded in Riyadh, 572 in Jeddah, 279 in Makkah, 170 in Madinah and 149 in Dammam.

The kingdom has reported 98,869 cases until now, of which 71,791 individuals have recovered and a total of 676 fatalities recorded as a result of the virus.

The source at the interior ministry added the government is monitoring the situation in Riyadh and will decide on a course of action should the cases there continue to rise.