JEDDAH — Inspecting teams from Jeddah municipality have ordered the closure of 235 shops, including 51 workshops, for violating COVID-19 protocols, reports in local media said. Undersecretary for Sub-Municipalities, Mohammed Bin Ibrahim Al-Zahrani, was quoted as saying that sub-municipalities have been assigned to ensure that the shops adhere to the municipal requirements and preventive protocols issued by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, indicating that the tours and monitoring tasks are ongoing and included all commercial activities around the clock. The shops were ordered closed over a period of three days. As per Saudi protocols, businesses are required to adhere to precautionary measures which include providing their staff with disinfectants and sanitizers, taking the temperatures of both staff and customers at the entrances of shopping malls. Other measures include sterilizing shopping trolleys and baskets after each use, sanitizing facilities and surfaces, closing children's play areas and fitting rooms in shopping malls and ready-wear outlets. Any gathering of shoppers or workers inside or outside a shopping mall in a way that exceeds the numbers stipulated in the precautionary measures and preventive measures, will attract a penalty of SR5,000 for each person exceeding the stipulated numbers, but not exceeding SR100,000.
