Wednesday 14 / May / 2025
Muscat: Violators of the night time lockdown in Oman, which begins today, will be dealt with strictly, the country’s Public Prosecution has said.
“The Public Prosecution will deal firmly with the arrested and refer violators of these decisions for all legal measures to be taken against them,” said Mohammed bin Said Al Yahyai, the Director General for Public Prosecution in the Governorate of Muscat.
“They will be imprisoned and sent to the competent courts.
“Public Prosecution calls upon all citizens and residents to fully adhere to the committee’s decisions and cooperate continuously, in the interests of everyone,” said the organisation.
The Supreme Committee for dealing with COVID-19, as part of its ongoing measures under the chairmanship of Interior Minister, Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal Al Busaidi, took a number of new decisions to help handle the situation in the Sultanate.
The measures include a prohibition of movement and lockdown of all public places and commercial outlets from 8 pm to 5 am every night from Sunday 11 October to Saturday 24 October 2020, a ban on the use of beaches till further notice, and the re-closure of some businesses that were previously opened, but failed to stick to the conditions set by the committee.
These measures were announced after studying reports related to a spate of infection and cases of death, and an unprecedented rise in occupancy of hospital wards and intensive care units, threatening an impending risk of overwhelming the capacities of the health sector in the Sultanate.
The departments concerned will announce the details of such activities at a later date. The names and pictures of offenders who violate these instructions will also be published in the media.
The Supreme Committee hereby urges all, particularly young people, to fully abide by precautionary measures at individual and collective level. All should refrain from family and social gatherings. The departments concerned will take legal action against all violators who breach the directives, according to the Supreme Committee.
Hospitals will keep their emergency services running throughout the day, but will close to outpatients well before the 8pm movement ban comes into effect. “We will see our last patients at about 730pm,” said Dr A Basheer, a senior internist and diabetologist at Badr Al Sama’a Hospital Ruwi.
“If a patient is required to stay on after 8pm, because the doctor he needed to see is not free before then, or he has to do more tests, then we will provide him a letter which he can show to authorities.
“Most of the doctors working at our hospitals have decided to stay back while the movement ban is active as well, to help with patient care and look over the medical cases we have,” he added.
“Normally, we take patients up to 1pm in the afternoon, and then up to about 9pm in the evening, but that will obviously be shortened now.”
Dr Rohil Raghavan, the regional CEO for VPS Healthcare Oman, which operates hospitals such as Burjeel and Lifeline in the Sultanate, added: “Our hospitals will be open till about 7pm, because of the movement ban. Of course, our accident and emergency section will be open to all patients.”
In keeping with the rules devised by the Supreme Committee, other businesses in Oman have also announced timings for their customers, and aim to wrap up for the day well before the start of the movement ban.
For example, D’Arcy’s Kitchen, a restaurant in Qurum, will close at 7pm, with diners not allowed in after 3pm. “This is the busiest time of the day for us, so we will only be open to takeaways after that,” said Yousuf Al Yafei, the restaurant owner.
All government health centres in Oman, according to the Ministry of Health, will be open from 7:30am to 2:30pm. “Some health centres will operate during the evening period from 2:30 pm-9:30 pm and on the weekend and official holidays between 9:30 am and 4:30 pm.”
These include six health centres in the Wilayat of Seeb: Hai Al Jamaa, Al Hail, Al Mawaleh, Al Shadi Health Centre, and the North and South Maabela health centres. In Boushar, two health centres – Al Ansab and North Al Khuwair – will remain open, while Muttrah Health Centre, as well as two in Muscat (Muscat and Yiti health centres).
Three health centres in Amerat (Al Nahda, Saaya and Al Amerat), and all health centres in Quriyat will remain open in evenings. During lockdown period, operational hours of buses and ferries will also be rescheduled.
“Buses will operate within Muscat Governorate until 6 pm,” said a Mwasalat statement. Regarding journey times for buses and ferries, the statement added: “All the trips will have to reach their destinations by 6 pm. Details will be published through the company’s official accounts and on various social media platforms.”
Customers can also get round-the-clock information regarding bus routes by reaching the call centre on 2412-1500 and 2412-1555, while ferry information can be provided on 8007-2000.
