UPDATE: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior announced on June 5, 2020 a series of restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the city of Jeddah that will last for 15 days. The restrictions will come into effect Saturday, June 6 and are a response to an evaluation of the health situation in the city by the relevant authorities.
Restriction include a curfew between 3 p.m. and 6 a.m., closing of mosques, and restricting gatherings of more than five people. Employees of ministries, government agencies and private sector companies will not work from the office. Restaurants and cafes will no longer serve food and drink on their premises. However, domestic flights and train travels will continue to operate and people can enter and exit the city outside of the curfew.
The interior ministry added the number of critical cases in Riyadh is being monitored and appropriate action will be taken should the number of coronavirus cases continue to rise as has been the case recently.
Saudi Arabia has announced an ease on numerous restrictions taken to limit the spread of the coronavirus, allowing the resumption of various economic and commercial activities. Under the new measures, domestic flights will be resumed while mosques, restaurants and cafes will be reopened. Work attendance will also be permitted, yet Umrah pilgrimage will remain temporarily suspended.
The decision to reopen has been made with the advice of health professionals and guidelines at every phase of the plan to resume economic activities.
Phase 1 (May 28-May 30)
- Allow movement between the hours of 6am and 3pm in all areas of the Kingdom, except in Makkah.
- Allow movement during curfew hours to those with permits obtained from the official “Tawakkalna” app.
- Allow movement between regions and cities in the Kingdom in private cars, except during curfew hours.
- Allow economic and commercial activities to resume in retail and wholesale shops and malls.
- Beauty salons, barbershops, sports clubs, health clubs, entertainment centers, and cinemas to remain closed.
- Maintain social distancing measures at all cost.
Phase 2 (May 31-June 20)
- Allow movement between the hours of 6am and 8pm in all areas of the Kingdom, except in Makkah.
- Allow movement during curfew hours to those with permits obtained from the official “Tawakkalna” app.
- Resume Friday prayers and all congressional prayers in the Kingdom’s mosques, except mosques in Makkah.
- Employees in ministries, government entities and private sector companies to return to working from their offices, given that they follow strict precautionary guidelines.
- Resume domestic flights by following the precautionary measures set by the civil aviation authority and the Ministry of Health.
- Resume serving of food/beverages in restaurants and cafes.
- Beauty salons, barbershops, sports clubs, health clubs, entertainment centers, and cinemas to remain closed.
- Ban social gatherings of more than 50 people, such as weddings and funerals.
- Maintain social distancing measures at all cost.
Phase 3 (From June 21 onwards)
- Return to “normal” life in all areas of the Kingdom, except Makkah.
- Maintain social distancing measures at all cost.
For Makkah:
- Implement phase 1 between May 31 and June 20.
- Implement phase 2 starting from June 21.
- Continue Friday prayers and all congregational prayers to be held in the Grand Mosque in Makkah, while limited to the Imams and the employees of the Grand Mosque.
- Maintain social distancing measures at all cost.
Ban to Remain in Place:
- Umrah pilgrimage in Makkah or visiting the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. (The ministry said this decision will be reviewed regularly in light of health-related developments)
- International flights (until further notice)
- The U.S. Mission to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has arranged with Saudi authorities and Saudia Airlines to offer limited commercial flights from the Kingdom to the United States during the period that regular commercial service is suspended to help contain the COVID-19 virus. Click here, for more information.
Furthermore, Saudi Arabia published its COVID-19 mandatory and precautionary guidelines put in place for shops and malls, labor housing, residential and commercial buildings, and facilities in the commercial, industrial and public sectors:
Shops and Malls:
- Limit number of customers in a store to one per 10 square meters.
- All customers and employees must wear face masks at all times and practice social distancing.
- Offer sanitizers to customers before and after using shopping carts and ensure sanitizers are available at all sale points to be used by customers and employees.
- Allow customers one companion only when they enter a shop and not allow entry of groups or families of more than two people.
- Ban entry of children under the age of 15 and seniors.
- Measure the temperature of customers and employees before entering a store and banning the entry of those with temperatures higher than 38 degrees Celsius.
- Stagger breaks, arrival and departure times to reduce interaction.
- Avoid using cash to make payments and encourage online or mobile or card payments.
- Ban offering food samples and trying on perfumes and make up products.
- Ban sale discounts and promotions.
- Close all common seating areas, such as smoking rooms, entertainment and games areas, and hallway benches.
- Close fitting rooms.
- Ban car valet service.
- Limit capacity of car parking lots to 50 percent.
Labor Housing:
- Provide adequate housing for labor workers in the construction and contracting sector that ensures the availability of 12 square meters of space.
- Provide an isolation room for any suspected coronavirus cases.
- Ban workers from moving between rooms.
- Reduce interaction of groups of workers in different residential areas.
- Assign a supervisor for each residence to monitor the adherence to social distancing, closure of common areas, and banning socializing activities.
- Ban entry of all unauthorized visitors to the residence.
- Ban sharing of eating utensils, cutlery and other tools used daily.
- Install alarm systems to remind workers to wash their hands every thirty minutes and to provide handwashing stations.
- Conduct temperature checks for everyone entering or leaving labor residences.
- Increase sanitization operations and assigning a cleaner to sanitize washrooms after every use.
- Ensure social distancing between workers: two square meters for every worker while working outside and one worker per four square meters inside, and if not possible, then reducing the time allotted for work activities and ensuring workers wear protective gear.
- Sanitize transport methods after every trip.
Residential and Commercial Buildings:
- Assign a manager for COVID-19 protocols or security team at entrances to conduct employee checks.
- Allocate one entrance for employees to re-enforce supervision of flow of entry and facilitate checks.
- Check the temperature of employees and ban the entry of those with temperatures higher than 38 degrees Celsius.
- Allocate one elevator (service elevator) for construction and maintenance workers and ban residents from using it.
- Ban entry of construction workers in open areas of residential buildings such as car parking lots, swimming pools, gyms, etc.
- Assign cleaners to sanitize frequently touched surfaces in buildings.
- Postpone any maintenance of central systems in both residential and commercial buildings, which can affect the quality of ventilation and air-conditioning.
Construction Sector:
- Install high quality air purifiers for construction field sites.
- Ensure adequate ventilation in construction sites and closed maintenance sites.
- Ban entry to the work site of anyone whose temperature is higher than 38 degrees Celsius.
- All employees must wear personal protective gear at all times, including face masks
- Limit the movement between work sites.
- Ban entry of all non-essential individuals to work sites.
- Rearrange workstations at sites to reduce crowding.
- Use sanitizers before entering or exiting lifts or cranes.
- Open indoor cafeterias only during bad weather conditions (such as hot summer days).
- Stagger breaks, arrival and departure times to reduce interaction.
- Ban individuals from staying overnight in construction and maintenance sites.
Facilities for Industrial and Mining Entities:
- Ban entry of all non-essential individuals to work sites.
- Limit the number of individuals who can attend meetings and gatherings.
- Ensure social distancing (two meters distance between every two people).
- Limit capacity of vehicles to 50 percent and regularly sanitizing them.
- Allocate separate entry and exit points.
- Allocate stations for employee checks before entry.
- Ban entry of all unauthorized individuals to the facility.
- Stagger breaks, arrival and departure times to ensure they are separated by 10 minute intervals.
- Set the maximum number of individuals allowed in each facility inside factories, such that there is no more than one person per four meters.
- Offer sanitizers at every point of entry and in common areas.
- Sanitize surfaces and machinery at least twice a day.
- Remove commonly touched objects, such as fingerprint scanners for checking into work.
- Ban entry of anyone whose temperature is higher than 38 degree Celsius.
- Rearrange workstations in facilities to ensure a distance of at least two meters between each two workers.
- Sanitize all cargo transport vehicles before any trip.
- Install alarm systems to remind workers to wash their hands every thirty minutes and to provide handwashing stations.
Public Sector
Public sector employees will gradually return to workplaces in all government agencies and offices as of Sunday, May 31. Starting from May 31, at least 50% of employees will return to workplaces, 75% will return as of June 7, 2020, and 100% will return by June 14, 2020.
- Employees must practice precautionary and preventive measures required by their sectors.
- Restrict entry to government buildings except for employees or those with scheduled visits.
- Guests with scheduled visits must wear face masks at all times.
- Maintain social distancing measures at all cost.
- Ban delivery services (parcels, food, etc.) from entering government buildings. Deliveries must be drop off outside the building.
- Divide employees into three groups with group A starting work at 7:30 am, group B stating work at 8:30 am, and group C with work starting at 9:30am.
Health Strategy
According to Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Health H.E. Dr. Tawfiq Alrabiah, the Kingdom was able to double the capacity of its laboratories, critical care rooms and ventilators in order to deal with the pandemic which allowed the country to control the spread of the disease and plan for the next phase. “The return to the normal conditions requires that we all have a high responsibility and attention and follow the health guidelines, especially for the people who are at higher risk of being infected with the virus, including the elderly, people with chronic diseases, people with respiratory diseases and weak immunity, and we ask them to take more care of themselves and ask those around,” he added.
How the Council Can Help
Businesses are facing mounting challenges as the COVID-19 crisis continues, including disruption to global supply chains. While businesses of all sizes are grappling to adjust, the U.S. Saudi Business Council is open to help companies that want to actively engage in Saudi Arabian market.
The Council recently introduced a Virtual Partner Search Service to help companies connect with potential partners in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, we are actively engaged with various stake holders and government agencies in the Kingdom to provide you with updated policies and regulations that impact your business. The Council also offers various virtual programs, customized business research, and frequent industry and economic reports. For questions or concerns, please contact Wiam Alwazir at walwazir@us-sabc.org. For questions regarding visa services, please contact Sahar Nadri, at snadri@us-sabc.org.
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