King Salman has urged adherence to “painful but necessary” orders to contain the coronavirus, saying the official measures conform to principles at the heart of Islam to preserve communal well-being.
The number of people infected in the kingdom surged over the last 11 days, with more than 2,000 cases recorded daily, as the authorities relaxed bans on movement then tightened them again for the Eid Al Fitr celebration.
In an Eid message, the monarch said that “safety requires from everybody to understand this special circumstance preventing Muslims from going to pray for Eid and to exchange visits”.
He said obeying the restrictions means “adhering to our rightful religion and its teachings amid downturns and contagions” with “sympathy and compassion”.
The intervention, in personal terms, by King Salman comes after several officials in Saudi Arabia said that widespread breaches of orders for people to stay home are undermining the government’s efforts to halt the coronavirus spread.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s top oil exporter and has the largest population among the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council.
The Saudi Health Ministry said on Sunday that nine more people died from the coronavirus, bringing the death toll from the contagion to 390. Another 2,399 cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.
Official data show 72,560 people have been infected in the kingdom, with no signs of deceleration in daily recorded cases.
King Salman thanked those who would be spending Eid at home “committed with the utmost awareness and responsibility to the social distancing measures”.
“Some of the precautionary measures might be painful, but they are necessary,” King Salman said in a letter, read out on television by Information Minister Majid Al Qasibi.
King Salman praised citizens and residents alike for "loyally supporting the pre-emptive and treatment measures taken by the respective authorities in our country”.
Elsewhere in the GCC Kuwait said eight more people died from the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 156. Cases jumped by another 838 to reach 21,302.
Oman said 513 more people were infected, representing a significant jump in daily cases. Total cases in the sultanate officially stand at 7,770.
Qatar announced another 1,501 cases and two new deaths. The Health Minister said total deaths on the island from the coronavirus have reached 23 and there were 34,521 people with "active" infections.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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Brief scores
Toss India, chose to bat
India 281-7 in 50 ov (Pandya 83, Dhoni 79; Coulter-Nile 3-44)
Australia 137-9 in 21 ov (Maxwell 39, Warner 25; Chahal 3-30)
India won by 26 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method
Read more from Johann Chacko
HAJJAN
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ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures
October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Roll of honour 2019-2020
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
}Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby
Emirates Cricket Board Women’s T10
ECB Hawks v ECB Falcons
Monday, April 6, 7.30pm, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
The match will be broadcast live on the My Sports Eye Facebook page
Hawks
Coach: Chaitrali Kalgutkar
Squad: Chaya Mughal (captain), Archara Supriya, Chamani Senevirathne, Chathurika Anand, Geethika Jyothis, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kashish Loungani, Khushi Sharma, Khushi Tanwar, Rinitha Rajith, Siddhi Pagarani, Siya Gokhale, Subha Srinivasan, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish
Falcons
Coach: Najeeb Amar
Squad: Kavisha Kumari (captain), Almaseera Jahangir, Annika Shivpuri, Archisha Mukherjee, Judit Cleetus, Ishani Senavirathne, Lavanya Keny, Mahika Gaur, Malavika Unnithan, Rishitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Shashini Kaluarachchi, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Vaishnave Mahesh
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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