Saudi Arabia reimposes wearing face masks in indoor, outdoor areas

MENA

Published: 2021-12-30 11:37

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 00:08


Saudi Arabia reimposes wearing face masks in indoor, outdoor areas
Saudi Arabia reimposes wearing face masks in indoor, outdoor areas

Wednesday, a source in Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior confirmed that the Kingdom will reimpose wearing face masks and following social distancing guidelines in all indoor and outdoor events and activities.

This came due to an increase in the number of coronavirus cases worldwide, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The SPA said the new decision will come into effect at 7am, Dec. 30, 2021.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Saudi Arabia has confirmed 554,665 cases and 8,874 deaths.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said earlier Wednesday “The risk posed by the rapidly-spreading omicron variant of COVID-19 is still ‘very high.’”

“The overall risk related to the new variant of concern omicron remains very high. Consistent evidence shows that the omicron variant has a growth advantage over the Delta variant with a doubling time of two to three days and rapid increases in the incidence of cases is seen in a number of countries,” the WHO said in its weekly COVID-19 update.