DOHA: Qatar has made wearing a face mask compulsory for everyone who steps outside their home, with violators facing jail time and fines of up to $55,000.
The move comes as the number of reported novel coronavirus cases in the country jumped by another 1,733 on Thursday, a single-day record for the Gulf state.
Cabinet mandated the wearing of face masks “upon leaving the house for any reason” except when “alone while driving a vehicle,” the Qatar News Agency reported Thursday.
The decision on Wednesday is effective from Sunday “until further notice,” with penalties of up to three years in jail and fines of up to 200,000 riyals ($55,000), it added.
Qatar, with a population of 2.75 million people, has seen a relatively high number of novel coronavirus cases, with more than 28,000 people testing positive.
But its official death rate remains low, with just 14 fatalities.
Bars, restaurants, cinemas and mosques have been shut to contain the spread of the virus.
But construction projects, including World Cup 2022 stadiums, have continued with new rules to encourage social distancing.
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Qatar makes face masks mandatory on threat of jail, fines
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Qatar makes face masks mandatory on threat of jail, fines
- Qatar, with a population of 2.75 million people, has seen a relatively high number of novel coronavirus cases, with more than 28,000 people testing positive
- The move comes as the number of reported novel coronavirus cases in the country jumped by another 1,733 on Thursday
Over 4,500 Daesh detainees brought to Iraq from Syria: official
- he detainees are among around 7,000 suspects the US military began transferring last month after Syrian government forces captured Kurdish-held territory
BAGHDAD: More than 4,500 suspected jihadists have been transferred from Syria to Iraq as part of a US operation to relocate Daesh group detainees, an Iraqi official told AFP on Tuesday.
The detainees are among around 7,000 suspects the US military began transferring last month after Syrian government forces captured Kurdish-held territory where they had been held by Kurdish fighters.
They include Syrians, Iraqis and Europeans, among other nationalities.
Saad Maan, a spokesperson for the Iraqi government’s security information unit, told AFP that 4,583 detainees had been brought to Iraq so far.
In 2014, Daesh swept across swathes of Syria and Iraq, committing massacres and forcing women and girls into sexual slavery.
Backed by US-led forces, Iraq proclaimed the defeat of Daesh in 2017, while in neighboring Syria the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces ultimately beat back the group two years later.
The SDF went on to jail thousands of suspected jihadists and detain tens of thousands of their relatives in camps.
In Iraq, where many prisons are packed with IS suspects, courts have handed down hundreds of death sentences and life terms to those convicted of terrorism offenses, including many foreign fighters.
This month Iraq’s judiciary said it had begun investigations into detainees transferred from Syria.
The detainees are among around 7,000 suspects the US military began transferring last month after Syrian government forces captured Kurdish-held territory where they had been held by Kurdish fighters.
They include Syrians, Iraqis and Europeans, among other nationalities.
Saad Maan, a spokesperson for the Iraqi government’s security information unit, told AFP that 4,583 detainees had been brought to Iraq so far.
In 2014, Daesh swept across swathes of Syria and Iraq, committing massacres and forcing women and girls into sexual slavery.
Backed by US-led forces, Iraq proclaimed the defeat of Daesh in 2017, while in neighboring Syria the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces ultimately beat back the group two years later.
The SDF went on to jail thousands of suspected jihadists and detain tens of thousands of their relatives in camps.
In Iraq, where many prisons are packed with IS suspects, courts have handed down hundreds of death sentences and life terms to those convicted of terrorism offenses, including many foreign fighters.
This month Iraq’s judiciary said it had begun investigations into detainees transferred from Syria.
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