RIYADH — Saudi Arabia suspended the attendance of employees at their workplaces in all government agencies except for those in the health, security and military sectors, for 16 days, as part of the Kingdom’s efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus, Saudi press agency (SPA) reported on Monday citing an interior ministry official source.

The government also announced “reducing the presence of crowds in government departments by promoting electronic transactions and activating electronic service delivery platforms in the service sectors of all government and private agencies, and limiting commercial dealings with companies and their representatives to electronic and telephone communication as much as possible,” the official source said.

As for the private sector, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development encouraged companies, private institutions, and charitable societies to reduce the numbers of employees and workers attending workplaces and promote working remotely, taking into consideration the continuity of the basic and sensitive work of the security and health sectors.

The ministry also granted certain categories of people the option of working remotely provided they submit a medical report which does not exceed one month of age, those include: pregnant women, those with respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease, acquired or hereditary immunodeficiency diseases, users of immunosuppressive drugs, and those subject to treatment from tumors.

The government is also requiring all companies and institutions to enforce a policy of requiring all their expatriate employees returning from travel to self-quarantine for a period of 14 days from the date of their arrival before commencing their work, as well as applying the same policy for those showing respiratory symptoms without having traveled recently. — SG