Muscat: Oman has eased restrictions put in place to combat the Novel Coronavirus after the country witnessed a sharp decline in cases over the past few days.
The country reported just 181 new cases of the disease yesterday compared to a daily average of above 1,000 cases during its peak, the Times of Oman reported.
Of the 82,924 total number of cases in the country, 77,550 have recovered, while 562 people have died.
The ease of restrictions means the ban on movement until August 15 has ended and schools are set to reopen on November 1 with staff returning to work on September 27, according to the Royal Oman Police and Supreme Committee.
Schools in Oman will initially follow a hybrid model of teaching, with some classes held online and students required to attend school partially.
“The 2020-2021 academic year will start on Sunday, 1 November, 2020, for students, and on Sunday, 27 September, 2020, for teachers and related jobs,” said a statement from the Supreme Committee. “The academic terms shall not be less than 180 days. The vacations of students, teachers and associated jobs will be aligned with this decision accordingly.
“Students will go to school for some classes, and will attend other classes through distance learning, in accordance with the controls and regulations to be issued by the Ministry of Education,” added the statement.
“While appreciating the great response shown by the citizens and residents, the committee calls upon everyone to continue to strictly adhere to wearing face masks, keep physical distancing and maintain hand hygiene along with other preventive measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus,” added the committee.
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