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Riyadh, May 27: Following the announcement of easing of lockdown measures, which includes reopening of all mosques for daily congressional as well as Friday prayers across the Kingdom except the holy city of Makkah, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance has set mandatory guidelines.

In a circular issued to mosque staff, Minister of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance Sheikh Abdullatif Al-Asheikh has instructed that all mosques must comply with the following precautionary measures and instructions:

1. Open mosques 15 minutes before the Adhan and close them 10 minutes after prayer

2. Reduce the waiting period between the Adhan and Iqamah to 10 minutes

3. Open windows and doors from entering time to the end of the prayer

4. Remove copies of Holy Qur’an and other books temporarily from mosques

5. Ensure attendees keep a distance of two meters between each other

6. Ensure one space is left between each row

7. Close all water coolers and refrigerators

8. Do not allow distribution of water or food in mosques

9. Close toilets and places of ablution

Precautionary measures on Friday prayers are as follows:

1. Open mosques 20 minutes before Friday prayer and closing them 20 minutes after prayer.

2. Friday sermon with prayer should not exceed 15 minutes.

The circular also stipulates to keep the suspension of the religious courses, programs and lectures, as well as the memorizing Holy Qur'an sessions in the mosques and to continue education and lectures remotely until further notice.

The circular pointed out that the imams of mosques should urge the worshipers to take the following precautionary measures:

1. Wear a face mask

2. Bring their own prayer rugs and not leave them after the prayer

3. Prevent accompanying children under 15 years of age from entering mosques

4. Perform ablution at home

5. Avoid crowding when entering or exiting mosques

Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Ministry of Interior clarified later in the day that people are allowed to perform congressional prayers in their locality during the time of curfew.

Jeddah, Mar 21: Saudi government ministers on Friday announced a war chest of more than SR120 billion ($32 billion) to fight the “unprecedented” health and economic challenges facing the country as a result of the killer coronavirus pandemic.

During a press conference in Riyadh, finance minister and acting minister of economy and planning, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, unveiled a SR70 billion stimulus package to support the private sector, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and businesses worst-hit by the virus outbreak.

And the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) has also sidelined SR50 billion to help the Kingdom’s banking sector, financial institutions and SMEs.

Al-Jadaan said the government had introduced tough measures to protect the country’s citizens while immediately putting in place a financial safety net. He added that the Kingdom was moving decisively to address the global COVID-19 disease crisis and cushion the financial and economic impact of the outbreak on the country.

The SR70 billion package of initiatives revealed by the minister will include exemptions and postponement of some government dues to help provide liquidity for private-sector companies.

Minister of Health Dr. Tawfig Al-Rabiah noted the raft of precautionary measures that had been introduced by the Kingdom in cooperation with the private sector and government agencies to combat the spread of the coronavirus, highlighting the important contribution of the data communication services sector.

He reassured the Saudi public that the Kingdom would continue to do whatever was required to tackle the crisis.

“This pandemic has a lot of challenges. It’s difficult to make presumptions at this moment as we’ve seen; many developed countries did not expect the rate of transmission of this virus.

“We see that the reality of the situation is different from what many expected. The virus is still being studied and though we know the means of transmission, it is transmitted at a very fast rate, having spread to many countries faster than expected.

“We see that many countries have not taken the strong precautionary measures from the beginning of the crisis which led to the vast spread of the virus in these countries,” Al-Rabiah said.

He pointed out that social distancing would help slow the spread.

Al-Jadaan said the Saudi government had the financial and economic capacity to deal with the situation. “We have large reserves and large investments, but we do not want to withdraw from the reserves more than what was already announced in the budget. We do not want to liquidate any of the government’s investments so we will borrow.

“We have approval from the government after the finance committee raised its recommendations to increase the proportion of the domestic product borrowing from 30 percent to 50 percent. We do not expect to exceed 50 percent from now until the end of 2022,” he added.

The government would use all the tools available to it to finance the private sector, especially SMEs, and ensure its ongoing stability.

The finance minister said that at this stage it was difficult to predict the economic impact of the pandemic on the private sector, but he emphasized that international coordination, most notably through G20 countries and health organizations, was ongoing.

On recorded cases of the COVID-19 disease in the Kingdom, Al-Rabiah said: “Many of the confirmed cases are without symptoms, this is due to the precautionary measures being considered.

“As soon as a case is confirmed, we contact and examine anyone who was in direct contact with the patient. This epidemiological investigation, is conducted on a large scale to investigate any case that was in contact with the patient.”

Al-Jadaan also announced the formation of a committee made up of the ministers of finance, economy and planning, commerce, and industry and mineral resources, along with the vice chairman of the board of the Saudi National Development Fund, and its governor.

The committee will be responsible for identifying and reviewing incentives, facilities, and other initiatives led by the fund.

Committees had also been established, said Al-Jadaan, to study the impact and repercussions of the coronavirus crisis on all sectors and regions, and look at ways of overcoming them through subsidies or stimulus packages.

Riyadh, Mar 18: Private-sector businesses in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday were ordered to introduce enforced remote working for all employees for 15 days in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Businesses that require staff to be physically present to ensure they continue to operate — including those in vital or sensitive sectors such as electricity, water and communications — must reduce the number of workers in their offices to the bare minimum. This can be no more than 40 percent of the total number of staff.

In such cases precautionary measures set by the Ministry of Health must be followed. At offices, and staff accommodation, with more than 50 workers, an area at the entrance must be provided where temperatures can be taken and symptoms checked.

Employers must also set up a mechanism for workers to report any symptoms, such as high temperature, coughing or shortness of breath, or contact they have had with infected individuals or people who recently returned from other countries without following proper Ministry of Health quarantine procedures.

Inside offices, a safe amount of space between employees must be maintained at all times. In addition, all health clubs and nurseries provided by employers must close.

Pregnant women and new mothers, people suffering from respiratory diseases, those with immune-system problems or chronic conditions, cancer patients and employees above the age of 55 are to be given 14 days compulsory paid leave, which will not be deducted from their annual entitlement.

Businesses that are excluded from the new measures include pharmacies and supermarkets, and their suppliers. Private-sector organizations that provide services to government agencies must contact them before suspending workplace attendance. Any other business that considers it impossible to operate with only 40 percent of staff in the workplace must submit an exemption request to the authority that supervises it.