By Tuqa Khalid

DUBAI -- The United Arab Emirates temporarily closed all public and private beaches and swimming pools, cinemas, public parks and gyms across the country for a renewable period of two weeks starting from Sunday (March 22), as part of the country’s latest measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

The government also ordered limiting the seating capacity of restaurants and food and beverages outlets to 20 percent, as per the social distancing guidelines which dictates people maintain a distance of 2-meters from others.

The restaurants and outlets are required to implement sanitization measures and will be allowed to continue delivering orders.

The government also urged the public to exercise in the fresh air.

The measure is the latest in a slew of decisions taken by UAE authorities to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

Last week, Dubai closed all hotel beverage facilities, and lounges, in addition to previous suspensions of all theme parks, entertainment and wedding destinations, including night clubs, cinemas and concerts and all gyms, gaming centers, and spring camps. On Tuesday, restaurants were directed to close all open buffets and screen diners for flu-like symptoms.

The virus has so far infected 153 people in the UAE, with 38 recovered. On Saturday, the country reported its first deaths from the coronavirus, two men, a 78-year-old Arab and a 58-year-old Asian. -- Al Arabiya English