Dubai officials shut another cafe, fine several other shops for breaking COVID-19 safety rules

Dubai: Dubai officials closed down a coffee shop whose staff were not wearing face masks and issued fines and warnings to other businesses in ongoing inspections regarding COVID-19 precautionary measures.

In a series of tweets on Saturday, Dubai Economy said that it has closed a coffee shop in cooperation with the Department of Tourism and Commerce as the cafe’s employees were not wearing face masks. They were also not adhering to social distancing.

Also, seven establishments, including commercial ones, in malls, International City, and Al Bada’a area were fined for not adhering to the precautionary measures, specifically social distancing. A further five shops were fined for not placing social distancing stickers.

During the checks, 660 businesses were found compliant. Dubai Economy reiterated the importance of following the precautionary measures and reporting any violation through the Dubai Consumer app.

Authorities have stepped up spot safety checks on businesses in the wake of a spike in coronavirus cases recently. On Saturday, the UAE announced 809 new cases of COVID-19, taking the overall tally in the country to 84,242.