Manama: A month-long night curfew will be enforced in Kuwait from Sunday, amid a rise in COVID-19 cases, the government spokesman Tareq Al-Mezrem said.
The curfew will be in effect between 5 pm and 5 am for four weeks, until April 8.
All commercial activities will be suspended during the curfew hours. However, cooperative societies and markets are permitted to carry out their activities through delivery service.
People are allowed to go to mosques on foot and pharmacies to buy medical supplies.
Restaurants and cafes will be allowed to serve only food take-out and delivery during the non-curfew period. People are banned from entering there but drive-thru ordering and receiving allowed.
Two passengers are allowed in taxis. All setting places at public areas and public parks are closed.
Employees in electricity and water ministry, employees in private hospitals and laboratories, etc. are exempted from the curfew. A barcode facility will put in place for the movements of hospital workers.
The decision was adopted in an extraordinary meeting of the Kuwait cabinet on Thursday after an uptick in the daily COVID-19 cases. The meeting held under the chairmanship of Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah, Prime Minister of Kuwait.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet lifted the month-long suspension for salons, gyms and health clubs, and other commercial activities from Sunday, provided they shut during curfew time.
The National Guard forces, in cooperation with police personnel, are tasked with enforcing the night curfew and violators will be handled with severity, the public security affairs under secretary General Faraj al-Soubi said on Saturday.
Expats who violate the curfew will be deported and citizens who do the same will be referred to the concerned authorities for necessary legal actions, he warned.
The commerce ministry will take necessary measures to deliver essential suppliers during the night curfew, he added.
The ban for non-Kuwaitis from entering the country will be continued until further notice.
Kuwait has been reporting an upward trend in the daily COVID-19 cases over the past few weeks. The country has confirmed a total of 199,428 cases including 1,120 deaths and 185,231 recoveries as of Saturday. The number of people currently hospitalized rose to 13,077 with 168 of them in intensive care units.
