Doha: For people’s safety and limit the spread of coronavirus outbreak, the Ministry of Interior started yesterday implementing Cabinet’s decision on wearing mandatory face masks on stepping out of homes.

According to the decision, wearing face masks is mandatory for all upon leaving house for any reason, except in the case when a person is alone while driving a vehicle. The Ministry of Interior has been authorised under Cabinet’s decision to take the necessary measures in this regard.

The residents termed the decision good saying that the decision is in the interest and safety of, after the high numbers of infected cases recorded because of non-adherence to precautionary measures by some.

“The decision is for everyone’s safety and we must abide by it. We should not expose our lives and the lives of others to risk as this attitude is not unacceptable,” said a resident Ahmed.

He further said, “Anyone who violates the decision, deserve the penalties because infection sometimes leads to death.”

For his part, Mawloud Azher pointed that he used to wear masks and gloves in public places, because it was meant protect him and his family.

“People who do not abide by the State’s instructions should be punished for greater cause of protecting the society from pandemic,” he added.

The country has made great efforts to protect society from the virus as it has established factories to produce masks and they are easily available in the market on controlled prices. Many companies have also distributed face masks among their workers for free.

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has urged people to abide by safety measures issued by the authorities concerned to limit the spread of coronavirus. It launched drive in many languages such as Arabic, English, Hindi, Urdu, Nepalese, Bengali, Sinhalese, Tagalog, Tamil, Malayalam, Pashto and Indonesian languages to educate people about this decision.