Saudi Arabia imposes curfew to fight virus
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman announced a nationwide duskto-dawn curfew from Monday in a bid to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, the latest in a series of restrictions.
The curfew — from 7pm until 6am — has been imposed for 21 days, the official Saudi Press Agency reported, citing a royal decree.
The move came after Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that the number of Covid-19 cases had jumped to 511, the highest in the Gulf. But the kingdom has reported no deaths so far.
Health-sector employees as well as security and military officials would be exempt from the curfew restrictions, the royal order said.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman warned on Thursday of a “more difficult” fight against the virus as the kingdom faces the double blow of virus-led shutdowns and crashing oil prices.
The Arab world’s biggest economy has shut down cinemas, malls and restaurants, halted flights and suspended the year-round umrah pilgrimage as it steps up efforts to contain the deadly virus.
The kingdom unveiled stimulus measures last week amounting to $32bn to support businesses, and said it that planned to raise borrowing to 50% of GDP.
Saudi Arabia has also suspended prayers in all mosques, except Islam’s holiest two sites in Mecca and Medina, a sensitive move in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom.
The world’s top crude exporter faces plunging prices for oil, the mainstay of government revenue, which have slipped to about $25 a barrel to touch multiyear lows as a result of sagging demand due to the viral contagion and the kingdom’s price war with Russia.
More than 1,300 infections have been detected in the Gulf region, with most of the cases initially identified among travellers returning from Iran, one of the world’s worst-affected countries.