Sunday 15 / June / 2025
Muscat: The Royal Oman Police has thanked people for observing the measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the country, while outdoors during the recent National Day holidays.
With the National Day weekend lasting from 25 to 28 November, many people took advantage of the opportunity to travel with their families away from the cities and decompress from the daily stresses of life, and the pressures of the ongoing pandemic.
To ensure people followed the rules while in public, the ROP had taken steps to prevent large-scale gatherings while still enabling everyone to enjoy the outdoors.
“We conducted patrols to prevent gatherings and sought to create a cooperative environment between the various elements of society,” said an ROP official.
“Among the efforts made to stop the spread of coronavirus across all the governorates, and in keeping with the decisions of the Supreme Committee to deal with COVID-19, we had taken some measures to stop the excessive gathering of people in public places such as wadis, beaches, and other tourist areas.
“We also directed people to break up their public gatherings in order to prevent the spread of the virus,” he added. “Our Directorate General of Operations receives reports round the clock and coordinates with the required police teams to deal with all violations of the Supreme Committee’s decisions.”
He added: “We’d like to thank the country’s citizens and residents for their response and commitment to the decisions issued to stop the spread of COVID-19.”
Locals and expats in the country also shared their experiences of the National Day holiday during the pandemic, a situation that has not taken place before.
“My family went out on Thursday to a wadi in Fanja around 2pm,” said an expat, who did not wish to be named. “It was a lovely sight with the ground covered in greenery, and many trees all around. My children were very happy to see the water flowing over and around the rocks, and loved the mild weather and the rains.
“Around 4pm, we were asked to leave by the ROP, and I understand it is necessary, although I felt a bit bad for my children as I could not give them enough time to play outdoors,” added the expat.
“They had been waiting for this day for almost two weeks, and I cannot take them to a lot of other places: shopping malls are likely to be crowded, while I am afraid of taking them to hotels and restaurants due to fear of infection.”
Mohammed Al Badi, an Omani national from the Wilayat of Saham also said the ROP had asked him to leave the picnic site he and his family had chosen due to concerns of overcrowding, which led to a lack of social distancing.
“We went on Friday morning to an area near Wadi Ahan dam in Sohar,” he recalled.
“There was green grass as far as the eye could see, so we decided to make ourselves comfortable there, drink some tea, relax and go for a walk, but in the afternoon, the police requested that we leave because there were far too many families and young people.
“I wished I could take my family somewhere else, but it was not possible, as all of the public places and tourist areas were occupied by other people,” Al Badi added. “All of the parks are closed as well, but my family – especially my children – need recreation during the weekends. Nevertheless, I am committed to following the rules of the Supreme Committee.
“I would appreciate it if the Ministry of Tourism or other officials put signs for where individual groups of people can gather,” he said. “That way, there will be no overcrowding, and we can still maintain social distancing.”
