RAMADAN 17, 1441 AH SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2020 20 Pages Max 38º Min 27º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18128 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Pandemic paradise for Neighbors help out as fighting Nike rivals play catch-up 15 family stuck in India 16 coronavirus trumps old rivalries 18 in marathon shoe wars Fajr 03:31 Dhuhr 11:44 Asr 15:20 Maghrib 18:30 Isha 19:55 Amir urges unity, supporting govt efforts to defeat virus Sheikh Sabah says time to focus on using resources wisely and effectively KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- ticipated in the fight against the virus. Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said yesterday HH the Amir also commended govern- Full lockdown that it was paramount for the people of ment efforts which led to the successful Kuwait to support government efforts to repatriation of Kuwait citizens abroad. HH counter the coronavirus (COVID-19) pan- the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled from May 10 demic, standing in unity to defeat this men- Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, the Cabinet, as well By B Izzak ace. In his annual television address on the as senior officials played an important role occasion of the last days of the holy month in countering COVID-19, said the Amir, of Ramadan, HH the Amir stressed the who asked the people to ponder the lessons KUWAIT: The Cabinet has decided to impose importance of following guidelines set by learned from the current dilemma. He added a total lockdown in the country for three weeks the country’s health authorities, namely the the pandemic had resulted in various chal- starting Sunday, May 10 until May 30 after a upcoming full lockdown. lenges including the decrease in oil prices steep rise in the number of coronavirus cases, “Ramadan this year came during the and investments, noting that it was time to government spokesman Tareq Al-Mizrem fast spread of COVID-19 with the whole focus on using resources wisely and effec- announced. The decision was made during an world and Kuwait being affected,” indicat- tively. The legislative and executive powers extraordinary meeting held by the Cabinet on ed HH the Amir, who stressed that efforts now have the role of wisely spending Friday to assess the health situation in the coun- should be focused on finding a successful resources to overcome the current dilem- try, Mizrem said. cure for the virus. Cooperation between ma and move forward towards a bright Mizrem said the lockdown was decided state entities and private bodies had suc- future, said HH the Amir, who took also the KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah addresses the based on recommendations by the health cessfully set procedures to address the chance to congratulate the people on was nation yesterday during his annual televised address on the occasion of the last Continued on Page 16 current challenge, HH Sheikh Sabah remaining period of the current blessed days of the holy month of Ramadan. — KUNA affirmed, thanking all individuals who par- month, Ramadan. — KUNA The expatriate exodus is expected to be ating citizens from the Gulf. Egypt has Gulf faces larger than after the 2008-2009 financial begun repatriation flights from Kuwait, crisis and the 2014-2015 plunge in prices where security forces quelled a riot by for oil, the region’s main export, the Egyptians at a shelter housing residency exodus of International Labor Organization (ILO) violators last week. In the United Arab said, without giving figures. In Oman alone, Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar the numbers expatriates the number of expatriates dropped by over leaving “could be very significant”, said 340,000 in 2010 following the 2008-2009 Ryszard Cholewinski, ILO’s senior migra- DUBAI/RIYADH: A popular Saudi talk crisis, according to official data. That year, tion specialist for Arab states. show host told private businesses this Oman’s economic growth slowed by 1.3 Farman, one of 60,000 Pakistanis regis- week it was their national duty to lay off percentage points, World Bank data show. tered to leave the UAE, lost his job as a foreign rather than local employees, warn- This time around, many foreign workers school bus driver two months ago after ing that the dominance of Saudi Arabia’s remain stranded without a safety net as education centers closed under virus con- workforce by expatriates was a “real dan- Gulf states try to organize ways of getting tainment measures. “I want to go home ger”. Khaled Al-Oqaily’s comments on his them home. Hundreds of thousands of because what’s the point of staying with- daily TV show encapsulated the dilemma migrants, mostly Asians, have registered out work?” he said, standing in a dimly lit faced by 35 million foreigners who form for repatriation, according to figures from street in front of communal housing in the Gulf’s economic backbone: As firms embassies and authorities in the region, Dubai’s Al Quoz industrial area. And it is shed jobs because of the coronavirus pan- which has seen COVID-19 spread among not only blue-collar workers who are CHENNAI: A health official takes a swab sample for a coronavirus test from an demic and oil price crash, and govern- low-income foreign workers in overcrowd- caught up in the coronavirus squeeze. Indian citizen evacuated from Dubai by an Air India flight at the Anna ments move to protect citizens’ jobs and ed living quarters. International Airport on Friday. — AFP wages, should they stay or go? Pakistan and India have started evacu- Continued on Page 16 many people question seemingly World leaders mixed messages about the value of face coverings as infection barriers. Repatriated Many Western governments coun- scrutinized selled against face masks for the gen- Pakistanis eral public at the start of the outbreak, over masks which has now claimed more than a quarter of a million lives worldwide. test positive PARIS: Donald Trump has not But as people start returning to work ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of Pakistanis who donned one. Emmanuel Macron despite the absence of a treatment or were repatriated from the Middle East - where boasted a small French flag on his. vaccine, masks are now being encour- many lost jobs amid coronavirus shutdowns and Slovakia’s president made a fashion aged or even required as a critical were living in cramped conditions - have tested statement by sporting a fuchsia-col- anti-virus tool, along with hand wash- positive for COVID-19, officials said Friday. ored one to match her outfit. As the ing and social distancing. Pakistan has so far brought about 20,000 world starts emerging from coron- As government advice has nationals home, among them a large number of avirus lockdowns, political leaders are changed, leaders have had to decide: unskilled workers who had been laboring in Gulf being closely scrutinized over their to cover up or not? “The decision to This combination of file pictures shows political leaders wearing face masks dur- nations only to see their jobs disappear as lock- choice to wear a mask - or not - as Continued on Page 16 ing the coronavirus pandemic. — AFP downs slowed economic activity. Of the 2,069 Pakistanis returning from the Middle East to the southern province of Sindh, next day. more than 500 tested positive for the coron- In Turkey, nearly 6,000 teams of avirus, Murad Ali Shah, Sindh’s chief minister, Turkish doctors “tracers” - all health professionals - told a press conference. And in the northwest- track potential COVID-19 cases 24 ern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a senior turn detectives hours a day by identifying and follow- government official told AFP that more than ing up with people who have had 200 of the 1,600 passengers repatriated to the contact with patients. By helping find city of Peshawar had tested positive. According to track virus new cases who are then quickly iso- to the foreign office, about 4.5 million Pakistanis ISTANBUL: In full protective gear, lated and treated, the Turkish govern- work in the Middle East. two doctors climb the stairs four at a ment says tracing has helped to con- In addition to the 20,000 who have already time. Their first task of the day: To test tain the outbreak and limit the number come back, around 110,000 more overseas a woman who has had contact with a of deaths. Pakistanis have registered a desire to return coronavirus patient in Istanbul. Visibly Even if some observers have ques- home. Pakistan has been chartering flights to perturbed by the appearance of men tioned the reliability of official figures, bring back stranded nationals, as commercial in white bodysuits on her landing, the Turkey’s death toll seems relatively flights into the country have been halted. resident in the populous Fatih district low given the number of infections - ISTANBUL: A health officer checks the temperature of a resident, believed to have Laborers in many Gulf nations live in crowded answers their questions before she is with 3,641 fatalities recorded and been in contact with coronavirus patients, before collecting swab samples on Continued on Page 16 tested. She will get her results the Continued on Page 16 May 7, 2020. — AFP 2 Established 1961 Sunday, May 10, 2020 Local Kuwait repatriated 29,168 citizens through four phases 81% citizens who expressed desire to return were repatriated KUWAIT: A total of 29,168 citizens have been repa- chott, Dakar, Valletta, Tbilisi, Baku, Mumbai, Delhi, triated between April 19 and May 6, part of a massive Trivandrum, Manila, Bangkok, Sarajevo, Amsterdam, plan to bring nationals back home due to spread of Vienna, London, Paris, Brussels, Munich and New coronavirus, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation York.