Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Lt. Col. Talal Al-Shalhoub, spokesman of the Ministry of Interior, warned against the violations on the part of the public pertaining to strictly following the precautionary measures and preventive protocols to stem the spread of coronavirus.

He also cautioned them that a decision on re-imposing curfew is in the hands of the members of the society and the curfew decision will be approved when the need arises for it.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, the ministry official stressed the need to adhere to all precautionary measures and preventive protocols.

“Despite all the efforts made by the government and the continuous warnings to adhere to the precautionary measures, it is unfortunate that violations are being monitored continuously,” he said while describing it as “individual” cases.

Lt. Col. Al-Shalhoub said that the competent authorities are monitoring the curves of coronavirus and are working on continuous evaluation with regard to imposing strict measures.

He drew attention to the statement of the spokesman of the Ministry of Health that the largest percentage of coronavirus infections over the past period was due to social gatherings.

While stressing the need to comply with preventive protocols, the spokesman clarified that a motorist’s failure to wear a mask is a violation.

Lt. Col. Al-Shalhoub warned against spreading rumors and misinformation on social media applications and websites that cause panic over coronavirus, stressing that all violations involving such acts will be monitored and penalties will be imposed against the violators.

The spokesman said that as many as 31,868 protocol violations have been disciplined during the past week in various regions of the Kingdom, saying that this accounted for an increase of 72 percent while compared to the total violations in the previous week.