Kuwait will be back to work this week as part of a five-phase plan to gradually return to normalcy. On May 10, for the first time in history, Kuwait declared a full lockdown of the country for three weeks to check the spread of COVID-19. All citizens and residents were restricted from moving out of their homes except for two hours a day for exercise or pre-appointed grocery and hospital appointments.
As per the recent governmental announcements, the first phase of the plan includes a 12 hours curfew as well as the opening of mosques, industrial activities, public services like maintenance and laundries, home delivery services, drive throughs at restaurants, food retail shops, cooperative societies, company transport vehicles, gas stations, hospitals and medical clinics. The Times spoke to people around Kuwait to capture their thoughts on the resumption of routine life in Kuwait.
Nervous Joann, working for a private company has been working from home for the last two months. She will be back in office for reduced hours with a limited number of colleagues. “It’s strange to be going back to work after so long. Also, it is not like coming back from a vacation where you are all excited to be back and to meet all your work friends. So many new steps have been put in place to maintain social distancing, temperature checks and precautionary measures like gloves, masks and sanitizers. I am a little nervous hearing about the number of increasing cases am praying that I continue to be safe even as I get back to work.” she says.
Relaxed Sunita and Rahul are excited to be able to step out of the house in the mornings again. “We have not visited any public places except twice to do groceries. It is good to hear that the lockdown will be lifted and we have the flexibility to go out for longer periods of time and get other work done.” they highlighted.
Excited Yasmeen sorely missed visiting her parent’s home and is excited to be able to visit them again. “I will be continuing to work from home and will make sure my kids maintain social distancing and stay away from public areas for some more time. However, I am very excited to be able to visit my parents again. I haven’t seen in except on video calls for the last month.”
Relieved Mohammed who lives in Salmiya explained: “All of Ramadan and even otherwise, I sorely missed going to the mosque for prayers. I used to feel sad when I heard the azaan and couldn’t do my usually routine of walking to the mosque for prayers. I am so relieved that the mosques will be opening. It will be different to pray with a mask on but still it is a good feeling to be going back.”
Amena who is a working mother of two kids was pleased to hear the news: “Keeping kids entertained indoors was a big challenge. They have some online schoolwork but still spent rest of the day watching TV or playing PS4 which I absolutely hated. Usually, we would take them to the park to play games or we would go to the beach to ride bicycles. Hoping we can enjoy the outdoors soon.”
Different people with different perspectives. However, the fact remains that the return to complete normalcy is not going to happen anytime soon. We should all be cautious and continue taking measures to stay safe. Getting back will require a lot of adaptation and lifestyle change for a long time to come.
– Staff Report
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