Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior has announced it recorded 20,502 violations of COVID-19 regulations in a single week.
On its twitter page the ministry affirmed it will continue the awareness campaigns to ensure compliance with the precautionary measures imposed to stem the spread of the coronavirus disease.
Riyadh recorded the highest number with 7,422 violations, followed by Mecca (2,822), Qassim (2,178), the Eastern Province (2,132), Madinah (1,898), Jouf (1,354), Baha (897), Tabuk (477), Hail (427), Asir (367), the Northern Borders (272), Jazan (123) and Najran (84).
The ministry warned against violations of preventive protocols while holding social gatherings for weddings and offering condolences and such other parties and events.
“Each person who commits the violation in terms of attending or inviting or causing the gathering shall be slapped with a fine amounting to SR5,000 and the penalty will be doubled in the event of repeating the violation and if the violation happens for the third time, the person will be referred to the Public Prosecution for further legal procedures,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its Twitter account.
The ministry said that fines for firms involved in violations will be SR40,000 for the first time and will be doubled if there is a repetition of the violation and in the event of it happening for the third time, the fine will be doubled and the violator will be referred to the Public Prosecution for further legal procedures.
“If the firm is a private one, it will also be shut down for three months in the event of committing the violation for the first time and for six months in the event of repeating the violation,” the ministry statement said.
The ministry urged the public to inform it about the place of occurrence of any social gatherings in violation of the directive by contacting the toll free number 999 in all regions except Riyadh and Mecca. In these two regions, the violations shall be notified on the toll free number of 911.
