Today, the Saudi Ministry of Interior issued a statement that included several decisions:

First: Stopping all events and parties, including weddings, corporate meetings and the like, in banquet halls and independent wedding halls or affiliated with hotels, as well as in breaks and camps that are used for these purposes, and that this is for a period of 30 days, which can be extended.

Second: Without prejudice to what is stated in Clause (First), the maximum number of human gatherings in social events shall not exceed (20) persons for a period of (10) days, which can be extended.

Third: Stopping all entertainment activities and events for a period of (10) extendable days.

Fourth: Closing down cinemas, indoor entertainment centers, and independent indoor games places or in restaurants, shopping centers, etc., as well as gyms and sports centers, for a period of (10) days, which can be extended.

Fifth: Suspending the provision of internal ordering services in restaurants, cafes and the like, and limiting it to submitting external requests for a period of (10) days, which can be extended, without allowing any gathering that results from those external requests, and for the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing to close the establishment that violates this for a period (24) hours, and if the violation is repeated for the first time, the closure is for a period of (48) hours, and for a period of (one week) if it is repeated for the second time, and for a period of (two weeks) for the third time, and if the violation is repeated for the fourth time and more, the facility shall be closed for a period of (one month) Without prejudice to the application of any other prescribed penalty for those violations.

Sixth: Intensifying monitoring efforts in implementing protocols and precautions from all authorities, especially the ministries (Interior, Commerce, Human Resources and Social Development, Tourism, Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing), the General Authority for Civil Aviation, and the General Entertainment Authority, and taking the necessary measures to control violations in the places that fall under Supervising it and imposing penalties on violators.

Seventh: The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, Housing, has assigned field control teams to ensure compliance with the application of preventive and precautionary measures and approved protocols, social distancing and wearing masks in cemeteries.

Eighth: Distribute prayers to funerals in cemeteries at all times of the day to reduce the number of mourners at one time, in addition to preparing places for funeral prayer to apply social distancing during prayer, and to separate burial places at a time by a distance of 100 meters - as much as possible - within The cemetery, to ensure the separation between the mourners.

Ninth: The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing and other supervisory authorities tighten control over restaurants and cafes to ensure that precautionary measures are applied, and emphasize restaurants and cafes to activate the use of surveillance cameras, and set up warning panels that show that the place is monitored with cameras to ensure the extent of compliance with precautionary measures and health protocols.

This will be implemented starting at ten in the evening, Thursday, 22 Jumada al-Thani 1442 AH, corresponding to February 4, 2021 AD.

The ministry indicated in the statement that the decisions are the result of high indicators in the epidemiological curve in some regions of the Kingdom and the laxity in applying the preventive and precautionary measures and the approved protocols, and the need to take preventive and precautionary measures commensurate with the needs of the current situation, and given what the world is witnessing of the emergence of a second wave of Coronavirus (Covid) 19) and the importance of preserving public health and the absence of a second outbreak in the Kingdom, which may lead to increased pressure on health facilities and the difficulty of controlling the pandemic.

In the statement, the Ministry of Interior confirmed that these measures were taken within the framework of the efforts made by the Kingdom to preserve public health and prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, and that it is subject to continuous evaluation with the competent health authorities to take the necessary additional measures if required, and calls on everyone to sense their responsibility and adhere to the directives And adherence to the procedures in the public interest.