King Salman on Sunday issued an order imposing a curfew across Saudi Arabia from Monday evening to control the spread of the COVID-19 disease.
A royal court statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said the curfew will start at 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. every day for 21 days from the evening of 28 Rajab 1441 in the Hijri calendar, equivalent to March 23, 2020 in the Gregorian calendar.
King Salman s order followed an announcement by the Health Ministry of 119 new coronavirus cases on Sunday,raising the total number in the Kingdom to 511.
The order enjoins citizens and residents alike to stay in their homes during the curfew hours for their own safety. Excluded from the curfew order are employees of vital public and private sector industries whose work requires continued performance.
Employees of the security, military and media sectors, and workers in the sensitive health and service sectors are also exempted.
The statement said the Ministry of Interior will undertake the necessary measures to implement the curfew, and all civil and military authorities are ordered to cooperate fully.
Numerous countries have adopted more stringent rules as the highly contagious novel coronavirus that originated from Wuhan, China, had become pandemic.