THERE is no doubt that the measures taken by the government to address the spread of the coronavirus are necessary in order to prevent the collapse of the health system in the country.

But this matter has greatly affected the productive sectors in the country, and has led to an economic downturn whose consequences will appear in the near future, and its negative effects will remain for a long time since it affects the economic movement in the country, so it has become necessary to find ways to ease the restrictions imposed in order to return to normal life, and this necessitates working immediately to open some sectors related to the daily life of people.

The most important sectors affected are the retail trade, many of which are on the brink of bankruptcy, and therefore will leave their negative effects on the general situation in future, especially in light of the partial curfew in the country that was extended with the start of the holy month of Ramadan, as the grace period is considered harsh by all measures. And permitting the home delivery of requests during the curfew period is not sufficient, because it is specific to some sectors, while what is required is to reduce this prohibition, meaning that stores must be allowed to open more, for example groceries in the regions can be opened and movement in the regions according to more flexible controls.

With the shortening of the grace period, there is no doubt that congestion will increase, because people will try to complete their tasks between eight in the morning and four in the afternoon, and therefore it is possible that the infection will increase, in light of the random examination it may help define the areas which are suffering from the corona virus more than the other areas.

There are other controls for communication between people, such as forcing everyone to use face masks and gloves, and to prevent gathering in front of public outlets, because the action currently taken, especially in cooperative societies, is not enough and the social distancing is not sufficient, especially since not everyone adheres to this distance when it comes to queues which means increased transmission.

Kuwait will not abide forever by these procedures, especially as ‘Corona’ has become an endemic in the entire world. However, the world is likely to suffer from this virus for many years and the lockdown is expected to continue.

Consequently, to return to normal life has become a necessary issue with a change in patterns of communication between people and coexistence with this virus, otherwise life will be disrupted, the economic collapse will increase, and the crisis will become more complicated.

Many countries of the world, especially those that have witnessed a major outbreak of the virus, have started to restore life to normal, and lessons have been learned from this crisis, and we must take advantage of that, and the government should take measures to ease the closure and restore life to normal, according to actions taken in other countries.

Sattam Ahmad Al-Jarallah
Online Editor
Alseyassah & Arab Times