JEDDAH — The authorities in Saudi Arabia have decided to re-tighten the health precautions in the city of Jeddah for a period of 15 days, beginning on Saturday (June 6) until June 20, Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday, citing an official source at the Ministry of Interior. The move is based on the recommendations made by the competent health authorities after reviewing the epidemiological situation and the high occupancy levels of the intensive care units in the city. The strict precautions to be applied again in Jeddah will be as follows: — Reimposition of curfew across the city from 3 p.m. until 6 a.m. — Suspension of prayers in mosques. — Suspension of workplace attendance in ministries, government agencies and private sector companies. — Suspension of dining in restaurants and cafes. — Prevention of any gatherings of more than five people. However, all domestic travel by air and land will be allowed, and entry into and out of the city will not be restricted outside the curfew hours. The exempt categories according to previous decisions will continue to carry out their work and take into consideration that this ought to be in the narrowest scope, in line with the measures and controls laid down by the competent authorities. The source stressed continuing monitoring the number of critical cases in Riyadh city, which have been witnessing a continuous rise recently. This is in preparation for taking the appropriate measures if this rise continues. The source pointed out that the situation in the rest of the cities and governorates of the Kingdom will continue to be the same as it is now. If there are signs calling for a change in the mechanism to be made in any region, governorate, city or neighborhood, it would be done in due course. At the outset of his statement, the MOI official source stressed that today's statement is based on the stipulations in the earlier statement published on May 25, 2020, that all the measures mentioned in it are subject to assessment and periodic revision, to determine if there is need for extension of any stage or revoking it and taking stricter precautionary measures, in line with the health requirements.
