Kuwait to begin third-phase of restoring to normal life
Implementing the third phase of the return to normalcy plan and reducing curfew hours to six instead of nine starting on July 28 does not mean the end of the Coronavirus epidemic, Minister of Health Sheikh Dr. Basil Al Sabah said today.
Kuwait will shorten its nightly curfew and reopen hotels and mosques next week in the latest relaxation of its coronavirus restrictions, the government said on Thursday.
The Gulf country said it would enter “phase three” of its coronavirus restrictions on July 28, enabling taxis to operate and resorts as well as hotels to re-open.
In addition, all mosques would be open for Eid Al Adha prayers, the Center for Government Communication (CGC) said on Twitter.
Muslims expect the holiday to begin on July 31. Until now, only some mosques had been allowed to operate.
The curfew put in place to limit the spread of the virus will begin an hour later at 9pm (1800 GMT) and end two hours earlier at 3am (midnight GMT), it said. The decision will be reviewed by the cabinet after the Eid Al Adha break.
The cabinet also decided to end the isolation of the Farwaniya district on Sunday. It is the last isolated area in the country, which has recorded 61,872 coronavirus infections, and 421 deaths.
The Minister of Health explained that the partial curfew was supposed to be lifted completely after moving to the third stage, but in order “to preserve public health, we have seen the need to reduce the number of hours of the curfew rather than lifting it completely,” he said. He went on to say that failure to comply with health requirements caused an increase in the number of infections among Kuwaiti citizens, sometimes by 70 per cent of the total number of infections recorded per day.
