Curfew Fresh Body Blow for Struggling Businesses
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RAJAB 26, 1442 AH WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2021 16 Pages Max 28º Min 11º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18380 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Thousands defy virus curbs The long lines of Milan’s Egyptian Billy Elliot sets new Messi to Paris: Barca nightmare, 6 for Women’s Day rallies 10 ‘new coronavirus poor’ 13 bar for Middle Eastern ballet 15 and PSG’s unattainable dream? Curfew fresh body blow for struggling businesses Long-suffering restaurants, retailers witness sharp drop in sales By Nawara Fattahova care units, spokesman Dr Abdullah Al- Sanad said. Health authorities conduct- KUWAIT: Many businesses already hit ed 7,760 swab tests, which means 14.9 hard by the coronavirus pandemic have percent of swab tests performed in 24 been further affected after the imposi- hours were positive, Sanad revealed. tion of the latest 12-hour curfew in “Our sales had already fallen by Kuwait. “We have already suffered loss- over 65 percent with the (earlier) 8 pm es due to the closure of dine-in services closure, as the peak of our sales is after at the restaurant for over a month. 7 pm. Now with the curfew, we close Ninety percent of our orders are usual- at 3:30 pm. Our sales are almost dead, ly during the evening, but now we can- and I don’t think we will be able to not even deliver, so our sales have resist for long. We already closed one dropped dramatically. The situation is branch last year due to the pandemic. I really bad, and the government will not hope we will survive,” said a salesman even compensate us,” said Ali, who runs at a major retail store. a Lebanese restaurant in Salmiya. “The situation of our business is Kuwait imposed a daily curfew from very bad. Sales had already dropped 5 pm to 5 am from March 7 until April 8 during the pandemic, and negative aimed at curbing a sharp rise in coron- news announced by the government avirus cases. Since Feb 7, the govern- is badly affecting our sales. When a ment cut opening hours for non-essen- minister announces there will be no tial retail shops and banned non-citi- salaries next month, people typically zens from entering the country. stop buying unnecessary stuff such The health ministry yesterday as outfits and bags, which is what we announced 1,157 additional COVID-19 sell,” rued the owner of another cases over a 24-hour span, taking total retail store. number of infections to 203,055, while The huge drop in sales has made eight fatalities were recorded, raising owners of retail stores hope the gov- KUWAIT: Customers enjoy lunch in their car outside a restaurant in Kuwait City yesterday. As dine-in services are banned, some restau- the death toll to 1,141. Active cases ernment announces a total closure. rants in Kuwait have come up with in-car dining. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat (More pics on Page 3) amounted to 13,747 with 181 in intensive Continued on Page 2 countries. Chief Executive Officer Mutlaq Al-Zayed In light of the current health conditions to confront News in brief Kuwait Flour Mills said in a statement yesterday that fortifying flour the spread of COVID-19, the company saw the dire with iron and folic acid is an effective way to main- need to produce flour with vitamin D, which plays an Egypt arrests pedophile tain the level of vitamin D in the body, reduce its important role in strengthening the immune system of adds vitamin D deficiency and prevent diseases associated with it. the body, Zayed stressed. The company is moving for- CAIRO: Egyptian police arrested yesterday a The mills sector can play an important role for peo- ward rapidly to achieve food security according to an man alleged to be a pedophile caught on a sur- to wheat flour ple suffering from vitamin D deficiency, as basic ingre- effective implementation mechanism and plans, as it veillance camera assaulting a young girl, the dients will be enriched with this vitamin, Zayed said, has attached special importance to food security as a adding that mixtures containing vitamin D can elimi- basic strategy in its vision, he said. interior ministry said. The footage went viral on KUWAIT: Kuwait Flour Mills and Bakeries Company, in cooperation with the Food and nate the dangerous effects of this vitamin’s deficiency. The Mills Company was established in 1961 and began social media on Monday night, with many users A small study will be made on flour with vitamin D to industrial activity in 1965. In 1986 it merged with the calling for the perpetrator’s prompt arrest. It Nutrition Authority, announced the addition of vita- min D to wheat flour according to international stan- follow up and evaluate the flour enrichment program to Kuwait Bakeries Company to become the Kuwait Flour showed a man abusing a minor near the staircase prepare reports on the final product, he added. Mills and Bakeries Company. — KUNA of a residential building in the upmarket suburb dards and as applied in some Arab and international of Maadi. — AFP border travel”, a foreign ministry spokesman said. Biden halts some drone strikes China launches However, although the certificate is meant for travel in and out of China, it is currently only available for WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has use by Chinese citizens and it is not yet mandatory. suspended drone strikes outside of war zones virus passport There is also no indication authorities in other coun- where US forces are operating, reversing the tries will use it when Chinese travellers go abroad. BEIJING: China has launched a health certificate Nevertheless, the certificate, which is also avail- policy of his predecessor Donald Trump, who program for Chinese international travellers, leading had given the military free rein in countries such able in paper form, is thought to be the world’s first the world in plans for so-called virus passports. The known “virus passport”. The United States and as Somalia. Any drone strikes planned against digital certificate, which shows a user’s vaccination Britain are among countries currently considering jihadist groups outside of Afghanistan, Syria or status and virus test results, is available for Chinese implementing similar permits. The European Union is Iraq will have to be approved by the White citizens via a program on Chinese social media plat- also working on a vaccine “green pass” that would House, the Pentagon said. — AFP form WeChat that was launched on Monday. allow citizens to travel between member countries The certificate is being rolled out “to help pro- and abroad. BEIJING: A woman holds a phone yesterday displaying a mote world economic recovery and facilitate cross- Continued on Page 2 mock-up of China’s new digital health certificate. — AFP Food drives third of emissions PARIS: A third of all the world’s man-made greenhouse gas emissions are linked to food, Jordan aims for green according to new global research that tracked produce from field to fork to landfill. Land clearing and deforestation, fertilizer use, live- with 10m tree campaign stock and waste all contribute to the emissions KUFRANJAH, Jordan: On a bare hill according to the agriculture ministry, from the system to feed Earth’s 7.7 billion in Jordan’s verdant Ajloun region, though Jordan also has an estimated people. — AFP dozens of people plant saplings as 23 million orchard trees, half of them part of a reforestation effort that aims olives. Forest fires strike almost every to reach 10 million trees in 10 years. year in the Middle Eastern country Malala signs Apple TV deal “The trees in our region are beauti- due to high summer temperatures, in a ful,” says 11-year-old Mohammed Al- trend scientists expect to intensify ISLAMABAD: Pakistani activist Malala Ananza, helping his father Mustafa with climate change. Yousafzai, who won the Nobel Peace Prize as a plant a carob sapling. “It’s a real The blazes are often started by teenager after surviving a Taleban assassina- shame that we have lost so many to picnickers’ barbeques or carelessly tion attempt, has signed a deal with Apple TV+ fires... We should work together to discarded cigarettes. There were 499 that will see her produce dramas and docu- protect them,” he says as they work fires in wood and forest areas last mentaries that focus on women and children. near the Kufranjah forest north of the year alone, according to the agricul- The multi-year partnership would “draw on her capital Amman. ture ministry. “We must make up for ability to inspire people around the world”, the Forests make up only one percent what has been lost in the fires,” said KUFRANJAH, Jordan: Jordanians take part in the planting of eucalyptus and carob company said. — AFP saplings near the forest of Kufranjah north of Amman on Feb 11, 2021. — AFP of the desert kingdom’s territory, Continued on Page 2 2 Established 1961 Wednesday, March 10, 2021 Local Deputy Amir chairs KFAS meeting, new Director General named Sheikh Mishal urges KFAS to back up scientific and technological sectors KUWAIT: His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah chaired, at Seif Palace on Monday, a meeting grouping Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) officials. During the meet- ing, Dr Khaled Ali Mohammad Al-Fadhel was chosen as KFAS Director General. The meeting was attended by the following board members: Justice Dhari Abdullah Al-Othman, Mustafa Al- Shimali, Dr Abdullah Yousef Al-Ghunaim, Sheikh Dr Mishal Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Dr Ibrahim Rashed Al-Reshdan and Dr Amani Sulaiman Bouqmaz.