COVID-19: Bahrain sets beach rules
Gathering of more than 5 people is banned; beach-goers to wear masks
Cairo: Bahrain has unveiled a set of health guidelines for reopening beaches nearly four months after they were shut as part of precautions to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.
The new rules ban a gathering of more than five persons on the beach and require distancing of two metres between each of the beach-goers. Seaside seats will have to be rearranged to ensure safe distancing.
The guidelines, decreed by Health Minister Faeqa Al Saleh, obliges installations with beaches to commit customers to filling forms about suffering any of the coronavirus symptoms or having come in contact with COVID-19 patients or living with a person under domestic quarantine.
Operators of the facilities are also required to check temperatures of customers and employees as part of efforts to stem the highly contagious disease.
Beach-goers will have to wear protective face masks when dealing with others. Violators will have to leave the site, according to the guidelines carried by Bahraini newspaper Akhbar Al Khaleej.
They also include shutting down bathing and sauna places, locker rooms as well other sites shared by others, except toilets, until further notice
The ministerial decision allows installations, housing seaside shops to retail items while abiding by health rules and encouraging customers to use e-pay methods.
Bahrain so far has reported 29,821 virus cases and 98 related deaths.
Like other Gulf states, the kingdom has recently eased some virus-induced restrictions to allow gradual return to normal life.