Phase two of return starts June 30
CABINET SHORTENS CURFEW HOURS FROM 8 pm TO 5 am Malls, commercial complexes, parks to open from 10 am to 6 pm
KUWAIT CITY, June 27, (KUNA): The Cabinet announced on Thursday that the second phase of going back to normalcy would begin on June 30, Tuesday, with curfew hours shortened to 8:00 pm until 5:00 am local-time.
In a press conference after the Cabinet’s exceptional meeting, Government Spokesperson Tareq Al-Merzem said that a number of decisions were made as part of the second phase of returning back to normalcy.
The decisions included appointing Health Minister Sheikh Dr Bassel Al-Sabah to continue assessing the health situation in the lockdown areas of Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, Mahboula, and Farwaniya to better handle the situation and curb the spread of COVID-19. A report on the situation will be relayed to the Cabinet, added the spokesman.
On June 30, government and ministerial entities will allow public and government employees to resume work according to specific decisions made by the Cabinet in the overall plan to bring back normal life in the country.
He went on to say that, the Cabinet had decided to form a main committee, headed by the Health Minister and a number of fellow officials, to follow up on health measures regarding curbing the spread of the coronavirus. The committee will be task with holding entities responsible for not abiding by anti-COVID-19 health regulations.
Al-Merzem urged citizens and residents alike to abide by health and safety regulations in the upcoming period to prevent the further spread of coronavirus in society.
The Cabinet had to assign concerned bodies to take necessary measures to ensure that the economy would recover, providing assistance to the private sector to revitalize the work market.
Ministries and government institutions should abide by the health conditions when they resume work on Tuesday, June 30, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) said Thursday.
The public sector should limit use of paper as well as personal delivery of documents within, or between, the institutions and to communicate through the government-to-government (G2G) system, CSC Undersecretary Bader Al-Hamad told a an online news conference following the Cabinet meeting.
Employees will be allowed to return to their office with 30 percent of total workforce maximum.
Al-Hamad said the Ministry of Health would be exempted from this decision because they needed to be fully operational to confront the pandemic.
Government departments, he added, should carry out regular disinfections and inform the employees about instructions issued by the health authorities.
Employees should limit their movements among departments and offices, he said, and a limited number of people should use elevators to guarantee physical distancing.
Restaurants inside the government buildings will not offer any services, said Al-Hamad, a ban would be imposed on gatherings, smoking or praying halls.
Al-Hamad said employees should be apart by two meters.
Al-Hamad, meanwhile, said the government was replacing expatriates with Kuwaiti nationals at the public sector as part of a five-year plan, which was in its third year now.
688 people infected
The novel coronavirus infected 688 people in Kuwait during past 24 hours, official spokesperson of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health declared on Saturday.
Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad, speaking during his daily update about the pandemic status locally, said total number of infection cases with the contagion climbed to 44,391.
Moroever, the virus claimed lives of three persons, during the same period of time, raising tally of deaths from the fatal pathogen to 344.
The confirmed cases included patients who had contracted the virus due to mingling with infected persons. Others remained under examination to determine source of the contamination.
The latest infections include 444 Kuwaiti citizens and 244 non-Kuwaiti residents of the country, he said.
Improved position
The success of the second stage of the plan to go back to normalcy in Kuwait will be in the hands of citizens and residents, said Health Minister Sheikh Dr Bassel Al-Sabah on Thursday.
In a press conference after the extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet, the Health Minister said that Kuwait had improved its position on curbing the spread of the coronavirus from the previous period especially during last Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr when the load on hospitals were at 85 percent.
Thanks to lockdown, the load was decreased to 40 percent in ICU during this month and 30 percent in hospitals nationwide, he indicated.
The three-week second phase of national plan to bring back life to normal will be less restrictive; however, people of Kuwait will now have the increased responsibility to combat the spread of COVID-19, approaching the matter with a cautious optimism.
The second phase will witness the return of less than 30 percent of the government workforce and the opening of commercial complexes, malls, parks, and other places of leisure between 10:00 am to 06:00 pm