Panel Recommends Lockdown of Some Neighborhoods in Major Cities

The Health Ministry’s scientific panel will submit a recommendation to the country’s national anti-coronavirus committee on the need to lock down some neighborhoods in major cities, including the capital, in order to contain the spread of the virus, caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan said on Monday.

“Sometimes the infection originates in the city before moving to rural areas, not the opposite,” Hassan explained.

“The coronavirus infection rate is still high and has not dropped, despite the partial lockdown of some areas,” he said.

Stressing the need to “lower the number of infections,” the minister said the issue is “directly related to the behavior of citizens.”

He added that citizens’ cooperation would spare the economic, commercial and touristic sector a partial or general lockdown.