THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAIT markets Page 15 ice hockey Established in 1977 / www.arabtimesonline.com Page 9 FRIDAY-SATURDAY, MARCH 5-6, 2021 / RAJAB 22-23, 1442 AH emergency number 112 NO. 17629 16 PAGES 150 FILS BAN ON ENTRY OF FOREIGN NATIONALS EXTENDED INDEFINITELY Cabinet declares 5-5 partial curfew Taxis to carry only two passengers KUWAIT CITY, March 4, (Agencies): The Council of Ministers held an extraordinary It decided to impose a partial curfew in the country from Sunday, March 7, 2021 starting from 5:00 pm to 5:00 am the next day, until 5:00 am on Thursday, April 8, 2021. This decision will be reviewed after the re-evaluation of the health situation meeting, headed by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Ha- in the country. mad Al-Sabah, on Thursday afternoon at Seif Palace. The decision also mandated the National Guard to assist the police forces in imposing the curfew. After the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Dr. Ahmed According to the decision, it is permitted during the partial curfew period to walk outside to perform the obligatory prayers Nasser Al-Muhammad Al-Sabah announced what transpired in the meeting. in mosques. Pharmacies, medical supply stores, cooperative societies and parallel markets will conduct their activities through The meeting decided on the recommendations received from the Ministerial Committee for COVID-19 Emergencies. delivery service only. Carrying out maintenance activities for air conditioners and elevators will also be allowed. The decision mandated the Minister of Commerce and In- dustry to take the necessary mea- sures to ensure the delivery of es- Opinion sential supplies during the partial curfew period, and to regulate the presence at auctions and limit them to companies, cooperative societies, parallel markets and food marketing outlets. Cairo-Doha During the period from 5:00 am to 5:00 pm, dine-in services and entry in restaurants and ca- fes will be banned; orders can be received only from cars or via delivery services. Passengers in taxis will be limited to two only, open doors and all seating areas in public places, public parks and gardens will be closed. Regarding the lifting of entry By Ahmed Al-Jarallah ban on non-Kuwaitis, the Cabi- Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times net decided to continue to work according to Cabinet resolution GIVEN that nations need to unite against the lurking dan- No. 77, adopted during its ex- ger, the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Al-Ula Summit came traordinary meeting No. 4/2021 to open new paths, not only in the relations between the held on 3/1/2021 to ban non-Ku- four countries – Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab waitis from entering the country Emirates and Bahrain – and Qatar, but also at the Arab level until further notice. in general. Also, the Cabinet tasked its This is due to the fact that the clouds over the regional Economic Affairs Committee with studying an appropriate sky warn of a great storm, especially when realizing the mechanism to address the po- objectives of the current US administration in its attempt tential economic repercussions to shake up the region, and perhaps bring back Barack resulting from the COVID-19 Obama’s old plan, which was aimed to hand over the Ara- pandemic. bian Peninsula to Iran (Shiite), and leave the North Africa The Cabinet urged the public to a Sunni power – a plan that will defi nitely stir up a long- to take all precautionary mea- term sectarian confl ict. sures and health requirements That is why when Cairo opened its doors with a warm and stop all gatherings and meet- welcome to Doha, the latter responded warmly too. This ings in order to limit the spread affi rms that the page of the old disagreement caused by evil of the COVID-19 virus and pre- powers that sought to divide the Gulf ranks has been closed serve the safety of everyone and forever. the cohesion of the health system Based on this fact, the words of Qatar’s Deputy Prime and health services provided to Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Muhammad bin Ab- citizens and residents, something dulrahman Al-Thani, when he went to Cairo to complete that requires cooperation of all to the solid reconciliation formula that was achieved at the prevent the spread of the virus. Al-Ula summit in Saudi Arabia, asserted that his country The Cabinet praised the sin- “seeks to restore warm and normal relations with Egypt”. cere and tremendous efforts ex- On the other hand, the strength of the Qatari-Saudi broth- erted by the Ministry of Health, headed by Sheikh Dr. Basel ers emerged through the solidarity call of the Amir of the Hamoud Al-Sabah, and all the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, and the Crown leaders and workers of all sectors Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad bin Salman after the of the ministry, and the sacrifices publication of the American report, which was based only they made since the beginning of on speculations and aimed to stir up dust around Saudi Ara- the pandemic and permanently to bia and to revive the old Obama plans. face this crisis. There is no doubt that the return of normal relations be- tween Qatar and other GCC countries and Egypt is a natural Rapid result of the profound changes launched by Amir Tamim During the meeting, the Min- bin Hamad, after the previous leaders in his country real- ister of Health Sheikh Dr. Basel ized that their continuation of the same policy would lead Hamoud Al-Sabah explained the to an imbalance of power. They had thus handed the matter latest developments in the cur- to the expert who opened the fi les of the alliances of his rent situation of the COVID-19 old country, and radically reconsidered and corrected the pandemic in the State of Kuwait. course of Qatari politics. He affirmed that a rapid increase Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, I was in the United Arab in the number of cases is being Emirates. A dialogue took place between an Emirati offi - witnessed, reaching unprecedent- cial – one of the decision-makers in his country – and I ed numbers. He also revealed an increase in the number of deaths regarding the effects of the crisis on the Gulf Cooperation and those receiving treatment in Council. He said, “The differences will end ... they will not the intensive care units, such that last forever”. the total number of COVID-19 Here we are... as everyone hoped, the breakthrough was KUNA photo victims is 196,497 and total completed with the warm words of the Qatari minister, be- His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah left Kuwait for the US Thursday for regular medical tests. His deaths is 1,105 since the begin- cause the agreement among the Arab countries with politi- Highness the Amir was seen off by His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, ning of the pandemic. cal and economic weight undoubtedly prevents many of the National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and senior state officials. The Cabinet was also in- risks and plots that saboteurs seek, from either within or formed of the measures taken outside the region. by the Ministry of Health to Today in the face of the new reality, we must ignore the continuously monitor the local discordant voices that try to sabotage any achievement and epidemiological indicators and rapprochement among the people of the same house. We Day by Day the measures taken by all sec- must continue to develop the relations in a way that serves tors of the ministry to address the the Gulf and Arab solidarity that we desperately need. This pandemic and limit the spread of is what the Amir of Qatar announced, and affi rmed his en- WHEN citizens got the news about the ar- the virus in order to preserve the deavor to achieve it. rest of former Minister Khaled Al-Jarrah by health and safety of citizens and State Security upon the order of the Ministers’ residents. Email: [email protected] Court, one of them commented, saying: Our The Cabinet noted the efforts dreams have begun to come true. Follow me on: exerted by the ministry to carry In the past things were not going well but out the COVID-19 vaccination with this news, the announcement of the new campaign to ensure reaching the government after painful birth pangs, and wait- desired herd immunity. ing for the verdict of the Constitutional Court re- The Cabinet decided not to [email protected] garding cases filed against the MPs, there is no doubt that our situation will improve – the first is extend the decision to close com- an end to corruption the size of which is so large mercial activities, which ends even camels cannot carry it on their backs. next Sunday, and accordingly, Add to this the decisions issued by some salons, barbershops ,health clubs, Allow entry of farm workers ministries, particularly the Ministry of Interior, and other commercial activities which sometimes issues unjust decisions. will reopen as of next Sunday KUWAIT CITY, March 4: According to Head of the Kuwait Farmers The unjust will be plagued by the ‘unjust’. March 7, provided that they close Union Abdullah Al-Damak, the agricultural sector, like many state sec- … Yet tomorrow is another day.