Not wearing masks in public top cause of fines, says ROP

Muscat: A refusal to wear masks while in public was the leading reason for fines to be issued to people in the country, according to the Royal Oman Police.

Despite this, however, the ROP had witnessed a decline in the number of people involved in offences, and fines issued, said Major Mohammed bin Salam Al Hashami, the head of electronic media and the Directorate of Public Relations.

“This is attributed to greater awareness among individuals in society,” he said. “The largest number of fines issued fall under the category of failure to wear a mask while in a public place. Some reopened establishments have also received tickets for violating instructions.”

Adding to this, Dr Saif bin Salim Al Abri, the Director General of Disease Surveillance and Disease Control at the Ministry of Health, said there had been a large decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases registered over the past few months, dropping from 26 per cent to four per cent of people in society.

“While infection cases continue to fluctuate locally and globally, the situation is being closely monitored in Oman,” he said. “For people wishing to visit the Sultanate, a medical test report must be compulsorily obtained prior to arrival. As for lab tests, these are restricted to border checkpoints.”

Despite the recent reopening of activities, however, Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Saidi, the Minister of Health, said people were to continue observing the measures taken to stop the spread of the virus.

He said this did not “mean any ‘business-as-usual’ condition. The risks posed by the virus are still high and it is hoped that the Supreme Committee would not be compelled to again impose a lockdown.”

“Any decision to absolve employees suffering from chronic diseases to go to their place of work is the discretion of their heads of department, depending on the patient’s condition,” he added, during the recent press conference of the Supreme Committee to deal with COVID-19.

“The epidemiological situation in the Sultanate will be closely monitored before taking any decision about students’ full attendance at schools, colleges or institutes.”