Cairo: Kuwait has shut down hundreds of shops after they had failed to comply with precautions in place against COVID-19 amid a surge in infections in the country, a municipal official has said.
Field inspection teams have so far visited 679,552 stores and markets, and closed a total of 1,115 shops over health violations, added Faisal Al Jumaa, the deputy head of Kuwait Municipality.
“The teams continue their inspection tours to implement instructions of the Council of Ministers to verify compliance with the health stipulations,” he told the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA.
He added that the inspectors have so far booked a total of 1,3680 infringements and issued 87,989 warnings.
“It is necessary for everyone to wear the face mask, sterilise hands and observe the maximum capacity inside stores, restaurants and indoor places to reduce the numbers of COVID-19 infections,” Al Jumaa added.
In recent weeks, Kuwait has experienced a surge in the daily virus infections. Health authorities Wednesday confirmed 4,548 new cases without deaths, raising the total infections in Kuwait to 446,547and 2,473 related fatalities.
As part of new precautions announced by the government to curtail the spread of the virus, all arrivals in Kuwait are now required to present a negative PCR conducted 72 hours before arrival.
The Kuwaiti government has also decided to temporarily halt all social events held at indoor places starting from January 9 until February 28.
