Bahrain Mirror: Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa announced a series of new measures to combat the Coronavirus. He also said that commercial and industrial businesses are to resume work starting Thursday (April 9, 2020).

The new decisions issued by the Government Executive Committee, under the chairmanship of Salman bin Hamad, require all citizens and residents to wear masks in public places.

Following the consideration of a report submitted by the National Medical Task Force to Combat the Coronavirus, the following decisions were taken, effective from 19h00, Thursday 09 April, to Thursday 23 April:

-          Movie theatres are to remain closed

-          All commercial sports gymnasiums, fitness studios, swimming pools and recreational activities are to remain closed 

-          The activities of all restaurants, tourist facilities and places for serving food are to remain limited to external orders and delivery services

-          Shisha Cafes are to remain closed. Services offered by these cafes are to remain limited to takeout and delivery of food only

-          Salons are to remain closed

-          All non-essential medical services provided by private health clinics are to remain suspended

-          The first hour of grocery store openings is to remain dedicated for the elderly and pregnant women

-          Public gatherings are to remain limited to 5 individuals or fewer. Individuals are encouraged to stay at home as much as possible, only going out for necessities

-           All citizens and residents are required to wear face masks whilst in public

-           Commercial and industrial businesses providing goods or services directly to customers, are to open and resume work provided the following conditions are met:

• Employees and visitors are required to wear a face mask
• The number of employees in any facility is reduced and overcrowding in stores is actively prevented to ensure sufficient social distancing measures are maintained at all times
• Stores must ensure continuous sterilization, including external premises, in accordance to guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health
• Queuing and line-ups outside stores must be arranged in accordance to the social distancing measures issued by the Ministry of Health

-          Private Sector enterprises are encouraged to follow the below guidelines:

• Remote working to be maintained, if and when possible
• The number of employees to be limited at any certain location, office and employees are instructed to adhere to social distancing measures
• The number of employees using corporate transportation methods, such as buses, are to be reduced.

Arabic Version