Five more people died from the coronavirus in Saudi Arabia in the last 24 hours, and 1,325 new cases were recorded, officials said on Wednesday.
But businesses and factories reopened as part of easing of coronavirus bans to mitigate damage to the economy.
The latest tally brought the death toll from coronavirus in Saudi Arabia to 157 and total cases to 21,402.
The kingdom is the world’s top oil exporter and a major employer of migrant labour from the Levant and the rest of the world.
Citing significant lack of observance of coronavirus measures, Saudi Arabian officials have been warning that infection numbers could keep rising sharply.
At a press conference in Riyadh, Health Ministry spokesman Mohammad Al Abdulaali showed photos of people in public spaces in the kingdom whom, he said, were not observing social distancing rules.
Mr Al Abdulaali said it was crucial for the public to stick to the rules during Ramadan. The advent of the holy month has been partly behind the easing of bans on movement.
Saudi Arabian authorities have registered more than 1,000 cases of the coronavirus daily since April 17. Mass assembly is still not being allowed and the holy city of Makkah, which has the most cases in the kingdom, remains under a 24-hour curfew.
A spokesman for the trade ministry said businesses started reopening on Wednesday, but that the authorities will monitor for price gouging, citing 5,000 citations for violations since the coronavirus hit.
Abulrahman Hussein said working hours are mostly restricted to between 9am to 5pm and that children and the elderly should stay away from the now open shops and malls.
All factories have been also allowed to resume production, officials said. Out of 9,000 factories in Saudi Arabia, 3,000 were deemed as vital and were exempted from the coronavirus closures. The restrictions were lifted this week on the remaining 6,000 factories.
Bans on movement have been eased across the GCC, but most countries in the region have been building makeshift hospitals and quarantine compounds, indicating that they do not expect the contagion to subside any time soon.
Kuwait announced 300 new cases of the coronavirus and one more death, bringing total cases to 3,740 and the number of people who died to 24.
Omani authorities said that the national airline, Oman Air, made eight unscheduled flights this month to India and China, bringing back 25 tonnes of essential medical supplies. Official data puts the cases in Oman at 2,227 and deaths at 10.
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Squads
Australia: Finch (c), Agar, Behrendorff, Carey, Coulter-Nile, Lynn, McDermott, Maxwell, Short, Stanlake, Stoinis, Tye, Zampa
India: Kohli (c), Khaleel, Bumrah, Chahal, Dhawan, Shreyas, Karthik, Kuldeep, Bhuvneshwar, Pandey, Krunal, Pant, Rahul, Sundar, Umesh
The biog
From: Upper Egypt
Age: 78
Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila
Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace
Favourite building in Abu Dhabi: Emirates Palace
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
