Gulf States of Kuwait and Qatar have criminalized not wearing masks with prison time of months to years. People’s reluctance to wear masks is a risk and failure to do so can land you in jail. The news sources from both Gulf States reiterated that people would be put behind bars or fined immediately, if they are lucky enough. The fine could be as high as thousands of dollars.
Not wearing a face mask not only puts the person at risk of getting infected but also increases the probability of coronavirus to spread quickly among population.
The health ministry of Kuwait warned that anyone caught not wearing a mask would spend up to three months behind bars. There are 15, 691 coronavirus cases in Kuwait as of May 17. The death count of 118 is much higher than in Qatar however.
Qatar, which has the second highest COVID-19 cases of 33,969 and fatalities of 15, has announced harsher and more brutal punishment.
The maximum penalty for being in public without a mask would be as much as three years.