Manama: Kuwait will close its land and sea passageways for four weeks starting from Wednesday, Feb. 24, the cabinet announced on Monday.
Shipping operations and workers in the neutral zone are exempted from the decision, the cabinet said on Twitter.
Citizens and the domestic workers accompanying them as well as citizens’ first-degree relatives will be allowed to return to the country via land and maritime ports.
The latest move is part of its measures to combat the spread of COVID-19, as the country has been reporting an upswing in the daily infections over the past few weeks.
On Saturday, the Civil Aviation Authority of the country extended indefinitely the entry ban for non-Kuwaitis.
Citizens are still allowed to return to the country but they must spend a week in quarantine at a hotel and another week at home.
The decisions were taken by a cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah on Monday.
The interior ministry and the customs directorate have been designated to implement this decision, effective February 24 until March 20, cabinet added.
The cabinet also decided to form a joint commission, headed by the Interior Minister and consists of representatives from the Health ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), to oversee the mechanism of enforcing the institutional quarantine on all arrivals in the country.
The Cabinet decided to ban customers’ presence inside restaurants and cafes, including those located at the shopping malls as of Wednesday until further orders.
