Saudi Health Ministry grants pregnant women sick leave to avoid virus risks

Passengers coming from China wearing masks to prevent a new coronavirus are checked by Saudi Health Ministry employees upon their arrival at King Khalid International Airport, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia January 29, 2020. (Reuters)

Women wear protective face masks, as they walk, after Saudi Arabia imposed a temporary lockdown on the province of Qatif, following the spread of coronavirus, in Qatif, Saudi Arabia March 10, 2020. (Reuters)

• The sick leave is part of precautionary measures aimed at confronting the spread of coronavirus

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health has announced a compulsory two-week sick leave for pregnant women.

The leave has also been granted to people with respiratory and chronic diseases, tumors and immunodeficiency who are workers in both the private and public sectors.

Dr. Tawfig Al-Rabiah said the committee tasked to monitor coronavirus developments will “implement a package of preventive measures to prevent societal outbreaks."

The committee “obliges all governmental and private sectors to grant compulsory sick leave of two weeks from its date and that it is not calculated from the leave balance for all employees who meet these conditions.”

The sick leave is part of precautionary measures aimed at reducing the numbers of patients infected with the coronavirus in Saudi Arabia.