Bahrain: 1,000 restaurants violated COVID-19 rules in one month

Dubai: More than 1,000 restaurants in Bahrain have violated COVID-19 rules in less than a month and faced legal actions, local media reported.

Bahrain has already tightened its preventive measures, which the authorities had extended by a week. Health Ministry officials are inspecting around 300 restaurants daily, fining on average 100 restaurants of them; 16 restaurants were also closed during inspections from May 27 to June 28.

Several mosques were also closed during this period for failing to comply with COVID-19 protocols.

Yesterday, the ministry inspected 288 restaurants and cafes, and found 51 facilities violating COVID-19 restrictions.

On Friday, judicial inspectors checked 233 restaurants and cafes and found that 31 facilities violated the restrictions. Likewise, on Thursday, officials checked 164 restaurants, only find that 36 are functioning in breach of COVID-19 protocols.

Public Prosecution is pursuing legal actions against the violating facilities, said the ministry.

The campaign comes as part of the new restrictions imposed by the Kingdom to stamp out a recent spike in COVID-19 infections. Initially imposed until June 25, authorities had extended the measures by one more week to July.

Public health authorities called on citizens and residents to continue adhering to the COVID-19 preventive measures to help the Kingdom flatten the curve. Officials also said that they would intensity inspections in the coming days.