Saudi Arabia calls on public to ‘act responsibly’ to avoid Covid-19 lockdown

Saudi Arabia can avoid another lockdown if people work together and follow the rules, the kingdom's Health Ministry said on Sunday.

Authorities said they had seen an increase in coronavirus cases and the public breaking coronavirus rules.

The kingdom registered 386 cases on Saturday, continuing a steady increase since early January. Cases peaked in June 2020.

A Health Ministry spokesman urged people to act responsibly to help "efforts of the leadership to preserve health and safety in the kingdom".

“If we adhere to procedures, the curve will flatten and then can be controlled. This is what we hope for,” he said.

The Human Resources and Social Development Ministry also called on all employees in all sectors to abide by the precautionary measures, follow health regulations and abide by social distancing rules in the workplace to limit the spread of Covid-19.
The ministry stressed the need to take the necessary measures to prevent gatherings, provide hand sanitiser at workplaces and apply social distancing by holding meetings virtually wherever possible.

The ministry also called for implementing remote working regulations and applying a flexible working hours policy.

Last week, Health Minister Dr Tawfiq Al Rabiah said that Saudi's second wave of the virus could be worse than the first if action was not taken.

Authorities will continue to arrest and fine those who violate the precautionary measures, including those who do not maintain social distance or wear a mask, a security spokesman from the health ministry said.

"Those who spread false information on social media about the coronavirus, which would cause panic, can be fined over a million riyals and imprisoned for a period of not less than a year and not more than five years," he added.

Authorities are asking people to use the Tawakkalna track and trace app when entering commercial and government buildings, maintain social distancing, not go out in groups of more than five and wear a mask at all times.

Citizens and residents may report Covid-19 violators by calling a special number. So far, the Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing group has conducted more than 14,500 monitoring rounds and closed 550 shops.

Jeddah Corniche was shut off by authorities on Friday because of overcrowding and lack of social distancing.

PROFILE

Name: Enhance Fitness

Year started: 2018

Based: UAE

Employees: 200

Amount raised: $3m

Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors

Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE

Flexible work arrangements
Pension support
Mental well-being assistance
Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
Financial well-being incentives

Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.

Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015

- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France

Stage 2 results

1 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal 04:18:18

2 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:02

3 Arnaud Demare (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 00:00:04

4 Diego Ulissi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates

5 Rick Zabel (GER) Israel Start-Up Nation

General Classification

1 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal 07:47:19

2 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:12

3 Arnaud Demare (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 00:00:16

4 Nikolai Cherkasov (RUS) Gazprom-Rusvelo 00:00:17

5 Alexey Lutsensko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 00:00:19

Key findings

Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.

Match info

Liverpool 4
Salah (19'), Mane (45 2', 53'), Sturridge (87')

West Ham United 0

Polarised public

31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views

19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views

19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all

Source: YouGov

Islamophobia definition

A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.

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Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.