Saudi Gazette report



RIYADH - The Ministry of Interior announced on Friday that the security authorities have detected a total of 4159 violations of coronavirus precautionary measures and preventive protocols within 24 hours of re-imposition of the measures in various regions of the Kingdom. These violations included mainly the failure to wear masks and maintaining social distancing.

The Riyadh region reported the highest number of cases that account for 1404 violations. The Madinah region came second with 530 cases and Makkah stood third with 490 violations. The security authorities have also detected 473 violations in the Eastern Province, 238 in Al-Qassim, 208 in the Northern Borders Region, 194 in Asir, 165 in Hail, 133 in Al-Baha, 110 in Tabuk, 82 in Al-Jouf, 77 in Najran while Jazan reported the lowest cases with a total of 55 violations.

Saudi Arabia has re-imposed precautionary measures against coronavirus such as wearing masks and maintaining social distancing effective from 7:00 am Thursday following a surge in cases of coronavirus, especially the mutated Omicron variant. Accordingly, the Public Health Authority (Weqaya) hasupdated health protocols for commercial centers, markets (souks), malls, restaurants and cafes effective from Thursday.

The Ministry of Interior said that penalty for not wearing a mask is SR1000 for an individual. The fines will be doubled with the repetition of the violation and it may reach up to a maximum amount of SR100000 in the event of the repeated violations, the ministry said in a statement.