Bahrain to pay 50% of wages for private firms hit by coronavirus

Doctors check a traveller in their designated residential area to check on residents who returned from Iran if anyone is infected with the novel coronavirus, at Isa Town Health Center, south of Manama, Bahrain, March 2, 2020. (Reuters)

• The new payments would start in July and continue for a three-month period

DUBAI: Bahrain's government said on Monday it would pay 50% of salaries for private company workers in sectors that were hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, state news agency BNA reported.
The new payments would start in July and continue for a three-month period, the government said, adding that it would extend its assistance to Bahraini citizens by also paying electricity and water bills.
Bahrain had said it was spending $570 million on paying salaries to all 100,000 of its citizens employed in the private sector from April to June to help soften the economic blow from the coronavirus outbreak.