Restrictions Eased As Businesses Begin To Suffer

Health authorities in the country are seemingly issuing exceptions to restrictions every other day. Various business activities that were prohibited earlier are now being permitted.

The latest restriction roll back is for hotels and restaurants, where the relevant health committee has stated that it is safe to conduct buffets. The same committee also decided to allow activities in sports stadiums in investment areas. Why these exemptions when the whole purpose of restrictions is to limit close interactions between large groups of people?

The new rules by the Health Committee states that buffets in restaurants and hotels will be permitted, provided there is adherence to physical spacing and health requirements. Having diners congregate at the buffet table, or wait in queues for their turn at the buffet do not seem conducive to health guidelines.

The health committee also permitted laundries to operate after 8pm, however, they are not allowed to open doors or receive any members of the public, but can perform their duties to prepare clothes and deliver them to their owners the next day. There are several other industries that could operate under these terms, so why only exempt laundries?

The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also decreed that starting from 21 February, all departing passengers, both citizens and expats and irrespective of whether they have a return or one-way air ticket, should also have a hotel booking for a seven-day institutional quarantine on their return.

Passengers may be unsure of the exact return date or it could be up to five months later when the ground situation may have changed dramatically, but a hotel booking for quarantine has been made mandatory. The booking can be changed at a later date to correspond with the return date, but what is the guarantee that rooms will be available on the changed date? Thankfully, this rule is not applicable for expats who have cancelled their residency in Kuwait before their final departure from the country for good.

The spokesperson for DGCA, Saad Al-Otaibi, said that no citizen or expat can depart from the country except after booking and selecting the institutional quarantine hotel online and paying the costs in full. He added, “the money is not refundable. The traveler will have to pay the costs before travel for the institutional quarantine period set for seven continuous days on their return.”

With regards to arrivals to the country for the first time, Al-Otaibi reiterated: “First-time arrivals must book a hotel through https://kuwaitmosafer.com platform before they reach the country for the institutional quarantine period.

 

SOURCE  TIMESKUWAIT

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