Coronavirus in Saudi Arabia: The latest facts about what is closed and banned

Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday a bundle of new measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus, including the closure of malls and parks, banning restaurants and cafes from serving food and beverages on their premises, as well as suspending workplace attendance at most government agencies.

The Kingdom’s confirmed coronavirus cases number stood at 118 as of Sunday.

Visit our dedicated coronavirus site here for all the latest updates.

Here are all the latest government’s decisions:

Suspension of attendance at workplaces in all government agencies for a period of 16 days, except for the health, security, and military sectors, the Electronic Security Center, and the remote learning system in the education sector.

Closure of closed and open commercial markets and malls, with the exception of pharmacies and food supply stores such as supermarkets, hypermarkets and the like, provided that they commit to sterilizing their shopping carts after being used by each individual client. This procedure does not include the shops located on commercial streets, provided that they are not within commercial complexes.

Closure of men’s barber shops and women’s beauty salons.

Banning of serving food and beverages in restaurants and cafes limiting their services only to take away requests and delivery, and customers are not allowed to sit at the designated service tables on the premises.

Banning of gatherings in public places designated for recreation such as parks, beaches, resorts, camps, wild parks and the like.

Stopping all auctions and auctions activities and temporarily close their gathering sites.

Limiting the presence of the public in government departments by enhancing electronic transactions and activating platforms for providing electronic services remotely, in the service sectors of all government and private agencies, and limiting commercial dealings with companies and their representatives to electronic and telephone communication as much as possible.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development encourages companies, private institutions, and charitable societies to reduce the number of employees attending workplaces and to promote electronic work remotely through the available electronic means with the continuity of basic and sensitive work for the security and health sectors.

Grant the opportunity to work remotely to the following categories: and the following categories: pregnant women, those with respiratory or cardiac diseases, HIV or hereditary diseases, and users of immunosuppressive drugs, and those who are undergoing treatment from tumors, provided that they present a medical report that does not exceed one month of age.

Demand all companies and institutions to enforce a policy of requiring all their expatriate employees returning from travel to self-quarantine for a period of 14 days from the date of their arrival before commencing their work, as well as applying the same policy for those showing respiratory symptoms without having traveled recently.