Govt Under Pressure As New Virus Measures Go Into Force
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JAMADA ALTHANI 26, 1442 AH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021 16 Pages Max 22º Min 11º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18355 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Scores missing in India after Telemedicine takes off in Pop phenom, tabloid target: Slick City crush Liverpool, 6 glacier causes deadly flooding 9 Germany during pandemic 13 The fight to #FreeBritney 16 Kane lifts mood for Spurs Govt under pressure as new virus measures go into force Mosques to remain open • Expat arrivals, fake PCR reports blamed for rise in cases By B Izzak Vaccinations to be KUWAIT: MPs and businesses yesterday contin- ued to pile pressure on the government to withdraw new tough coronavirus measures, especially the completed by Sept closure of businesses, but authorities insisted they will enforce the decisions. MPs yesterday called on if supplied: MoH the government to either withdraw the decisions or compensate all businesses affected by the new par- KUWAIT: Health Minister Sheikh Dr Basel Al- tial closures to combat a significant rise in the num- Sabah confirmed that the majority of COVID-19 ber of coronavirus cases, with the health ministry vaccinations will be completed by September, yesterday reporting 962 cases, the highest in sever- adding the estimated 850,000 Kuwaiti citizens al weeks. who want to be vaccinated can be inoculated National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem within three months. He said this will be possible assured small businesses that he had “carried their only if vaccines are available, considering the vac- voice” to the highest level and that directives have cination centers’ capacity reaches a maximum of been issued to find suitable solutions to reduce the 300,000 people per month. sufferings and losses of local businesses. He said he This came in a press statement after the min- also held talks with HH the Prime Minister Sheikh istry yesterday launched two COVID-19 vaccina- Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, who was cooperative tion centers at two primary healthcare centers in and positive, and “is working to find a way to imple- Naseem and Masayel, as part of its keenness to ment the decisions and still reduce the sufferings of expand the number of recipients of the COVID-19 small businesses”. vaccine. There will be 35 health centers providing Ghanem called for a speedy implementation of vaccination services beside the Kuwait solutions to save businesses from going bankrupt. Vaccination Center at the Kuwait International He also said the prime minister informed him the Fairgrounds, which includes halls 5 and 6, in KUWAIT: Health Minister Sheikh Dr Basel Al-Sabah visits a new COVID-19 vaccination center in Masayel government will not close mosques, since they are Continued on Page 2 yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat strictly observing health precautions. Continued on Page 2 Schools and universities in the coun- Jordan kids try have been shut since mid-March due to the pandemic. Kindergarten and early elementary school levels, as well Dutch hit by head back as students in their final year of high school, went back to classrooms yester- snowstorm as to school day, the first day of the school week in Jordan, while Christian schools will AMMAN: Hundreds of thousands of stu- reopen for those students today. The Europe shivers dents in Jordan went back to classrooms UN agency for Palestinian refugees also yesterday after almost a year of school reopened its schools yesterday for THE HAGUE: The Netherlands and parts of closures due to the coronavirus pandem- 28,000 students. Germany were blanketed yesterday by a snow- ic. “I am very happy to see my friends and An education ministry spokesman storm that disrupted planes and trains and put teacher again,” said seven-year-old said more than 773,000 students were some coronavirus testing on hold. Britain was Makkah at a girls’ school in Jabal Amman, going back to the classroom this week. also bracing for heavy snow from what Dutch in the center of the Jordanian capital. “I Fadi Ismail, a teacher at the Shukry meteorologists have called Storm Darcy, which is was bored at home. Being at school is Shaashaa school in Amman, was also AMMAN: Jordanian pupils wearing facemasks attend class for the first time in packing winds of up to 90 km an hour. better,” the smiling girl said. Continued on Page 2 nearly a year yesterday as schools gradually reopen. — AFP People rushed outdoors to enjoy sledging and playing in the snow in Dutch and German cities despite the bitterly cold conditions with tempera- blood-red water on Saturday and many tures as low as minus 5 degrees Celsius. But Dye causes shared images of the rare phenomenon Dutch authorities declared a rare “code red” online. emergency for the entire country as it was hit by Officials later confirmed the unique its first proper snowstorm in more than a decade. crimson flood color came from harmless fabric dye Weather forecasting website Weer.nl said that used by several batik factories in the overnight a force eight wind was measured in in Indonesia area. Pekalongan itself is well known for combination with snowfall, adding: “This officially its batik textiles industry, with many means a snowstorm in our country. “It is the first PEKALONGAN, Indonesia: An cottage industries flourishing across snowstorm in a long time: the last snowstorm Indonesian village was inundated by the town. “They did not dump the dye took place in January 2010,” it said. Dozens of crimson-colored water after flooding on purpose, but several home industries flights were delayed or cancelled at Amsterdam’s hit a fabric dyeing center in central were flooded and the dye packages Schiphol airport while Eindhoven airport in the Java, sparking a social media frenzy. were carried away by the water”, local southern Netherlands scrapped all services. Residents of Jenggot, near the town of disaster agency official Dimas Arga PEKALONGAN, Indonesia: Residents wade through floodwaters dyed red from a All trains were cancelled in the Netherlands, Pekalongan, were seen wading through Yudha told AFP yesterday. — AFP batik factory in central Java on Saturday. — AFP including international services to Germany. Trams were halted in the capital Amsterdam, while a tram derailed in the snow in The Hague, period when the Earth and Mars are nearest. 2020 Perseverance rover from the US will both land an AFP reporter saw. Motorists were advised to UAE probe If successful, the wealthy Gulf state will become on Mars’ surface. Only the US, India, the former avoid travelling and more than 80 cars were the fifth nation to ever reach Mars - a venture timed Soviet Union and the European Space Agency have reported to have skidded off the road. Most parts to mark the 50th anniversary of the unification of successfully reached the Red Planet in the past. of the country had between five and 10 cm of first in trio of the UAE - with the China mission due to become After blasting off from Japan last July, the Hope snow but some areas received 30 cm, public the sixth the following day. Landmarks across the mission now faces its “most critical and complex” broadcaster NOS said. The conditions are so Mars missions UAE have been lit up in red at night, government maneuver, according to Emirati officials, with a 50- severe that the Dutch government has closed all accounts emblazoned with the #ArabstoMars hash- 50 chance of successfully entering a Mars orbit. coronavirus testing centers for several days. DUBAI: The first Arab space mission, the UAE’s tag, and on the big day Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the The spacecraft must slow significantly to be cap- Up to 10 days of sub-zero daytime tempera- “Hope” probe, is expected to reach Mars’ orbit world’s tallest tower, will be at the center of a cele- tured by Martian gravity, rotating and firing all six tures are expected in the Netherlands, raising tomorrow, making it the first of three spacecraft to bratory show. of its Delta-V thrusters for 27 minutes to reduce its hopes in the skating-obsessed country that arrive at the Red Planet this month. The United Arab “Hope”, known as “Al-Amal” in Arabic, will orbit cruising speed of 121,000 km per hour to about canals will freeze over. Emirates, China and the United States all launched the planet for at least one Martian year, or 687 18,000 kph. Continued on Page 2 projects to Mars last July, taking advantage of a days, while the Tianwen-1 from China and the Mars Continued on Page 2 2 Established 1961 Monday, February 8, 2021 Local Amir, Crown Prince receive senior officials Prime Minister receives call from Bahrain Crown Prince KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets His Highness the Crown His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. — Amiri Diwan and KUNA photos Ali Al-Ghanem. His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- meets Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Hamad meets Deputy Chief of the National Guard Lieutenant General Sheikh Sabah meets His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah. Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. KUWAIT: His Highness the Khaled, Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al- Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Ahmad, Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al- Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received His Ali and Saleh at Seif Palace.