Beaches to remain out of bounds for visitors

The decision to continue with the closure of beaches in Oman is seen as a major measure to clamp down on gatherings to stem the spread of coronavirus. “Despite lifting of the lockdown and ban on night movement”, clarified a Royal Oman Police official, “ban on gatherings in public places including beaches will continue to be in place”. The 14-day nationwide night movement ban ended on Saturday morning at 5 am. On Friday, the Government Communication Centre announced that the decision banning the use of beaches will continue to be in effect till further notice. During the period before October 9, people were flocking to beaches without following the COVID-19 precautions evoking sharp condemnation from the authorities. Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saeedi, Minister of Health, while calling it dangerous, said: “Some people are too reckless, though they have been advised to avoid gatherings at homes and among families. There are those who play football on beaches and crowd commercial centres”. Commenting on the decision to keep the beaches closed, an official at Muscat Municipality said that the move was necessitated due to the “approach of the people who were not following social distancing and other measures”. The closure is aimed at preventing people from congregating and thus protecting their health, he said. “Open beaches are crowd pullers. Families with even infants tend to visit beaches to have some kind of entertainment. Most of them do not wear masks or keep social distancing. So it is better to keep the beaches closed till we confirm decline in COVID-19 cases”, he said. Last week, the Supreme Committee on COVID-19 situation expressed extreme anxiety about the behaviour of some individuals who participate in gatherings and cause the spread of the virus. A large number of people seemingly ignoring social distancing guidelines, even many without masks were, crowding on different beaches in the Sultanate during the coronavirus outbreak despite warnings from public health experts and authorities. “We are doing all we can to make people aware of what they need to do, now more than ever we need their cooperation — for their own and others’ safety,” the civic official said.