Cairo: A group of expatriates in Oman, arrested for violating a ban on illegal gatherings, could be the first in the country to be named and have their photos published under a recent decision by authorities to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.
Police in Oman’s Al Sharqiyadh North Governorate had rounded up the unspecified group for having violated the ban on public gatherings, Omani online newspaper Shabiba reported Wednesday. Legal procedures are being finalised against them.
The arrests are the first made public since a state supreme committee in charge of tackling COVID-19 in Oman declared on Friday that names and photos of violators of precautions against the highly infectious disease will be published in the media, the report said. The panel called for halting all family and social gatherings.
The public prosecution has said that the names and the photos will be made public after court rulings are issued against the offenders.
Oman has reimposed a nighttime ban on movement starting from Sunday until October 24 in an attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The steps were taken due to an increase in the numbers of the virus cases and deaths in the sultanate.
