JEDDAH: Starting in mid-May, coronavirus vaccinations will be mandatory for all barbershop, salon, restaurant, cafe and food outlet workers in Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing said on Wednesday.
Workers will be required to be vaccinated in order to protect public health and curb the spread of the virus. Those who are not vaccinated before the deadline must provide a negative PCR test result every seven days at the expense of the employer.
The Ministry of Sports and Transport General Authority issued similar directives on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Tourism also issued a statement saying that buffet services in restaurants, tents, and halls will be halted during the holy month of Ramadan.
FASTFACTS
386,300 - Total number of cases
375,471 - Recoveries
6,624 - Deaths
The Ministry of Health has expanded the vaccination rollout and launched more than 500 COVID-19 vaccination centers across all regions of the Kingdom. To receive the free vaccine, the ministry is asking citizens to register on the Sehhaty application and then sign up for an appointment.
More than 3.6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far, which is at a rate of 1 out of 10 people in the Kingdom.
On Wednesday, 466 new cases were reported, which means 386,300 people in Saudi Arabia have contracted the virus. There are 4,205 active cases as 627 of them are critical, which is an increase of 10 in the past 24 hours.
Riyadh reported the most cases at 193. The Eastern Province had 102 cases and Makkah followed with 71. Al-Bahah had the lowest number of cases with three.
Six people died from the coronavirus, raising the national death toll to 6,624. There were 306 patients who recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 375,471. The Kingdom’s recovery rate has decreased to 97.2 percent.
