Public Holiday Announced from March 12 to 26 • Commercial Flights Completely Halted
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RAJAB 17, 1441 AH THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 28 Pages Max 31º Min 12º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18081 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net UAE joins Saudi in opening taps Rare white giraffes killed Biden says fighting for US Paraguayan judge orders 11 as row with Russia hits oil prices 16 by poachers in Kenya 24 ‘soul’ after big primary wins 28 Ronaldinho to stay in jail KUWAIT LOCKS DOWN Public holiday announced from March 12 to 26 • Commercial flights completely halted • No gatherings at restaurants and cafes, even inside malls • Mandatory tests for expats who returned from Feb 27 onwards • Banks closed until March 26, except one in each governorate • Cooperative societies will remain open; no curfew in country KUWAIT: (Left) Long queues are seen outside a bakery in Rumaithiya yesterday. (Right) A new center for screening expatriates is being readied at the international fairgrounds in Mishref yesterday. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat and KUNA By B Izzak and Hanan Al-Saadoun ernment denied that a curfew has been imposed, Mubarak Al-Kabeer governorate; Saturday, March 14 - Spokesperson Tareq Al-Mazrem categorically denied describing such reports as baseless rumors. Banks were Farwaniya governorate; Sunday, March 15 - Hawally that cooperative societies will be closed, stressing that KUWAIT: Kuwait was yesterday in near lockdown also declared closed for a similar period from March 12 governorate; Monday, March 16 - Ahmadi governorate; the societies and other essential services will remain after the government took a series of exceptional until March 26. All transactions can be completed online, Tuesday, March 17 - Capital governorate. The ministry open without restrictions. measures in a bid to prevent the spread of the coron- the banking association announced, adding one branch said testing is mandatory and warned those who fail to Interior Minister Anas Al-Saleh also insisted that avirus, halting commercial flights and sending public will remain open in each governorate to assist clients. report of legal measures. imports to the country will remain open. The ministry of sector employees on a public holiday for two weeks. The health ministry also imposed mandatory med- Officials advised people to stay away from gather- commerce said that all branches of subsidized rations The Cabinet said flights to and from Kuwait will stop ical tests for coronavirus for all expatriates who have ings and remain at home. The health ministry yesterday will remain open, while the health and commerce min- from midnight on Friday. Flights for returning Kuwaitis returned to the country from Feb 27 onward. The announced three more coronavirus cases, raising the istries stressed they have ample supplies. MP Saleh will be arranged by authorities. The halt of flights ministry established testing centers at the interna- total number to 72, but Health Minister Sheikh Dr Basel Ashour said the health ministry is not capable of con- effectively means that Kuwait is completely cut off tional fairgrounds in Mishref to test expats in accor- Al-Sabah said three of the cases have been cured and trolling a possible spread of the coronavirus among from the outside world, except for cargo flights and dance with their place of residence from 8.00 am will be released soon. expatriates and called for sending thousands of “mar- imports. until 6.00 pm. Expats must bring their civil IDs and Following the announcement of the new measures, ginal” expat workers to their home countries until the The Cabinet also banned gatherings at restaurants passports with them. large crowds rushed to cooperative societies, markets, problem is over. Earlier this week, Kuwait stopped issu- and cafes including those inside malls, and ordered the The days of tests are as follows: Thursday, March 12 bakeries and petrol stations, as rumors spread that ing all types of visas for expats except for diplomats closure of gyms, sports and health clubs. But the gov- - Expats from Jahra governorate; Friday, March 13 - cooperative societies will be closed. Government and in coordination with Kuwaiti embassies abroad. pile staples like milk, bread, eggs, flour, Panic buying as vegetables and fruits, fearing that food- stuff will soon run out of stock. By 7 pm, 238 cases in Qatar; huge crowds were seen at supermarkets essentials run in most residential areas such as Salmiya, 77 in Bahrain; 63 Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, Riggae, Khaitan and out at stores Fahaheel, leading to chaotic scenes in many places. new deaths in Iran By Sajeev K Peter Some people complained that eggs, milks and vegetables ran out in many small DUBAI: Qatar reported 238 more coronavirus shops and baqalas, while staff at coopera- infections among individuals under quarantine in a KUWAIT: Long queues formed outside tives and supermarkets struggled to deal residential compound yesterday, the latest Gulf cooperative societies and retail outlets with the sudden spurt in demand for basic state to record new cases in a regional outbreak. across Kuwait yesterday as people resort- food items and the unprecedented buying Bahrain earlier announced 77 new infections among ed to panic buying of essentials after the spree. “It was really crazy. I stood in the citizens evacuated by plane from Iran, which has government declared a two-week public line for two hours to get a crate of eggs emerged as an epicenter for the virus in the Middle holiday in the wake of coronavirus out- and four packs of milk. But, I don’t see any East. Two meetings of G20 economies due to be break in the country. reason for this kind of panic,” an expat held in Saudi Arabia have been postponed. As soon as the news of the holiday named Rodrigues said as he came out of a KUWAIT: Long queues are seen at the checkout counter of a supermarket All Gulf Arab states have recorded infections broke, people rushed to supermarkets, co- cooperative in Salmiya. yesterday. — Photo by Fouad Al-Shaikh but no deaths. The spike in cases in Qatar, which ops, bakeries and grocery stores to stock- took the country’s tally to 262, was among expatri- ates who had been quarantined inside one com- pound after three residents were diagnosed with contain the outbreak, saying aggressive measures could the virus on Sunday, the health ministry said. WHO: Coronavirus still play a big role to curb the pandemic. Mike Ryan, Bahrain’s new infections were among 165 individu- head of the WHO’s emergencies program, said the situa- als flown home on Tuesday in the first repatriation outbreak a pandemic tion in Iran was “very serious” and the agency would flight from Iran. A second government-chartered like to see more surveillance and more care for the sick. flight is set for today. GENEVA: The World Health Organization is describing The coronavirus, which emerged in China in December, Those who did not test positive will be quaran- the new coronavirus as a pandemic, it said yesterday, has spread around the world, halting industry, bringing tined in a dedicated facility, Bahrain’s government adding that Italy and Iran were now on the frontline of flights to a standstill, closing schools and forcing the communications office said in a separate statement. the disease and other countries would soon join them. postponement of sporting events and concerts. There are no direct flights between Bahrain and “We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels The WHO declared a public health emergency of Iran, the world’s fourth most affected country, with of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of international concern, its “highest level of alarm”, on Jan more than 8,000 infections. Airlines are cancelling inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that 30 when there were fewer than 100 cases of COVID-19 GENEVA: World Health Organization Director-General flights across the region as governments try to stem COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic,” WHO outside China and eight cases of human-to-human Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a daily the spread of the virus. Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a transmission of the disease. Now there are more than press briefing on COVID-19 at the WHO headquarters Continued on Page 24 news conference yesterday. 118,000 cases in 114 countries and 4,291 people have He urged the global community to redouble efforts to Continued on Page 24 yesterday. — AFP .