Coronavirus: Shopping time set for elderly in Saudi capital

Move aimed at protecting old shoppers from coronavirus

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1 MIN READ
A general view shows an empty street after a curfew was imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease in Riyadh on March 24.
A general view shows an empty street after a curfew was imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease in Riyadh on March 24.
REUTERS

Cairo: Local authorities in the Saudi capital Riyadh have set a schedule for old people to shop at the city’s major centres in a step aimed at protecting them from contracting the new coronavirus.

The Riyadh region’s municipality said on its Twitter account that it launched an initiative targeting the old people and the physically challenged, specifying certain hours for them to do the shopping with the aim of protecting from the virus.

The authorities published a list of shopping centres in Riyadh and the specified hours when they will be open for the two categories only.

The time runs from 6am to 9am. Old people with chronic ailments are among high-risk groups impacted by the rapidly spreading virus.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia started enforcing a nationwide partial curfew in effect from 7pm to 6am daily, the latest step to contain the spread of the COVID-19 in the country.

The kingdom has reported one death from the infectious disease among a total of 767 cases.

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