May 29, 2020
Kuwait is moving to a 12-hour curfew to stop the spread of COVID-19 tomorrow from the current 24-hour one.
Starting on May 30, the curfew in the Gulf country will be from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am, according to the country’s interior minister.
“We are moving to a partial curfew,†Anas Al-Saleh said, according to the state-run Kuwait News Agency.
The decision follows the “negative experiences of many countries†and was based on recommendations from the World Health Organization and US health authorities, the agency reported.
Kuwait has struggled to keep the novel coronavirus under control. The country began a 16-hour curfew in April. Earlier this month, the country announced the current 24-hour curfew following an uptick in cases. Infections continued to increase during the round-the-clock curfew, however, sometimes by nearly 1,000 per day. Authorities have also said they will throw people in jail for not wearing a mask.
Cases continue to rise as the government eases restrictions on movement. Kuwait registered 845 new cases yesterday, bringing the total to 24,112, according to a Kuwaiti Health Ministry release.
Gulf countries in particular are suffering during the pandemic. Saudi Arabia too has oscillated between easing and re-imposing restrictions. Low-income foreign workers in the Gulf and Kuwait are particularly vulnerable to the virus because they live in crowded dwellings that cannot comply with health regulations. Some have demanded repatriation because of the pandemic.
