RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior has warned against violations of coronavirus preventive protocols while holding social gatherings for wedding and offering condolences and such other parties and events. "Each person who commits the violation in terms of attending or inviting or causing the gathering shall be slapped with a fine amounting to SR5,000 and the penalty will be doubled in the event of repeating the violation and if the violation repeated for a second time, the person will be referred to the Public Prosecution for taking further legal procedures," the ministry said in a statement posted on its Twitter account. The ministry said that fine for firms that involve in violation will be SR40,000 for the first time and the fine will be doubled with repetition of the violation and in the event of repeating the violation for a second time, the fine will be doubled and the violator will be referred to the Public Prosecution for taking further legal procedures. "If the firm is a private one, it will also be shut down for three months in the event of committing the violation for the first time and for six months in the event of repeating the violation," the ministry statement said. The ministry urged the public to inform it about the place of occurrence of any social gatherings in violation of the directive by contacting the toll free number of 999 in all regions except Riyadh and Makkah. In these two regions, the violations shall be notified on the toll free number of 911. 20,502 violators caught in a week The Ministry of Interior announced that a total of 20,502 violations of the coronavirus preventive protocols have been detected during the week from Jan. 10 to 16. According to the statistical figures released by the ministry, Riyadh region recorded the highest number of 7,422 violations, and it was followed by Makkah region with 2,871, Qassim 2,178 and Eastern Province 2,132 violations. The violations recorded in other regions are as follows: Madinah 1,898, Al-Jouf 1,354, Al-Baha 897, Tabuk 477, Hail 427, Asir 367, Northern Border Region 272, Jazan 123 and Najran 84. The ministry urged the citizens and expatriates to strictly comply with the preventive protocols and abide by the instructions issued by the concerned authorities in this regard.
