MPs have called for a ban on serving sheesha in cafés as a precautionary measure.
Parliament’s public utilities and environment affairs committee member Khaled Bu Onk, who spearheaded the initiative, said the proposal had been presented to the government.
“Smoking sheesha is anyway harmful to health,” he told the GDN yesterday.
“Moreover, viruses can easily spread when a person smokes a sheesha and then it is passed onto another person.”
Kuwait has already banned cafés from serving sheesha with cafe owners welcoming the move despite financial losses.
Deter
Mr Bu Onk said he had received angry calls from sheesha cafe owners but that would not deter him from his campaign.
“I will always call for what’s good for the country,” he said.
“I don’t want to harm businesses and the government should step in to help the cafe owners by, maybe, reducing rent or electricity and water charges.”
However, MP and Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry member Ahmed Al Saloom said he found no relation between smoking sheeshas and the spread of the virus.
“There is no scientific evidence to prove that smoking sheesha can raise the risk of infection,” he told the GDN.
“We have had viruses before and people have continued smoking sheesha but there has never been a talk of banning the practice.
“Besides, the World Health Organisation has never said smoking sheesha can spread the virus.”
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