MUSCAT, MARCH 18 - Even as the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) announced a financial backing of RO 8 billion following the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Transport on Wednesday announced suspension of all means of transports.
“The ban takes effect from tomorrow (Thursday), and will continue till further notice,” the ministry said in a statement.
The suspension of services includes buses, ferries, vans and microbuses, with the exception of buses and ferries heading to the Governorate of Musandam and the Wilayat of Masirah. A circular issued by Taher bin Salim al Amri, CBO Executive President, announced a number of stimulus measures providing relief to banks and other companies hit following the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, a statement from the Ministry of Health said that nine more confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been registered on Wednesday, bringing the total to 33 in the Sultanate.
“Seven of them are linked to travelling abroad whereas two are under epidemiological investigation,” the ministry said in a statement.
One of the cases is receiving treatment at the hospital and is stable, while the rest are under home isolation, the statement added.
At the same time, the Ministry of Tourism on Wednesday called upon travel and tourism companies and hotel establishments to advise tourist delegations to leave the Sultanate and return to their respective countries.
“This is due to the fact that it is not clear how long the exceptional global conditions and developments resulting from coronavirus will last,” said the ministry, hoping, “tourist visits to the Sultanate will resume after the end of the pandemic”.
Earlier, the Ministry of Health took a decision to exempt some categories of expatriates from the medical examination of residency procedures from Thursday (March 19). Expatriates from Bangladesh, Egypt, Morocco, India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Indonesia, Jordan, Nepal, Pakistan, Lebanon, Tunisia and Turkey for the first time have been exempted from the medical examination of residency procedures.
Meanwhile, the Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP) said it has ordered the closure of two pharmacies and issued 33 fines for hiking the price of face masks after receiving 94 reports.
PACP has also issued 18 fines related to hiking the prices of sanitisers after receiving 63 complaints.
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