Author: Mark

Over the weekend two PDFs made their rounds on social media, one related to the reopening of Avenues, the other to the reopening of Marina Mall. You can download both of them below if you want to go through them:

Avenues Mall Reopening Guidelines
Marina Mall Reopening Guidelines

Here are some highlights on how they’re gonna try and make shopping a safe experience after the lockdown:

– Avenues don’t mention opening hours but Marina Mall’s will be 10AM to 10PM on weekdays and till 11PM on weekends
– Both malls will reduce the number of entrances
– Avenues will have separate entrances and separate exits
– Your temperature will be taken on the way in
– Employees and customers both required to wear masks and gloves
– Marina Mall capacity will be reduced to 30%, Avenues doesn’t mention a reduction
– Stores will limit the number of customers inside
– No valet parking
– No car wash services
– Prayer rooms will be closed
– Smoking rooms will be closed
– Fitting rooms will be closed
– Public seating areas will be removed/closed
– Marina Mall will allow restaurants to have a seating capacity of 30%. Restaurants must use disposable cutlery.
– Avenues, on the other hand, won’t allow restaurants to have dine-in just takeaway

There are more details in the PDFs but that’s basically the gist of it. Not sure how Marina Mall is planning to limit the capacity of the mall to 30%, does that mean there will be long lines outside the mall similar to supermarkets? If there are multiple entrances and exits how are they gonna know how many people are coming in or leaving? They also mention they will limit shoppers to a maximum of 2 hours of shopping, how are they gonna do that?

Also curious if coffee shops will be open and how do I walk and drink coffee with my mask on? Might have to drink niqabi style I guess.

Once the lockdown is over and restaurants can reopen again for dine-in, where are you going first? I think for me it’s gotta be Peacock.

Abu Othman, like thousands of Kuwaiti men, has struggled to split his time between two wives living in separate homes amid the Gulf state’s strict lockdown to combat the coronavirus.

“My life has become so complicated,” the 45-year-old, who has 10 children between the two women, told AFP.

..

But in response to appeals by scores of polygamists like Abu Othman to ease their restrictions on movement, the Kuwaiti authorities on Sunday introduced electronic permits to men married to more than one woman for one-hour visits twice a week. Source

Seems like a good problem to have. Here is a link to the “Family Care” curfew pass page.

via Reddit

This post originally was going to be about how you should watch the show Little America on AppleTV+, but then it was going to be a post about how you should watch For All Mankind on AppleTV+. But, I’ve now discovered and gotten hooked on the AppleTV+ series The Morning Show“>The Morning Show so this post is about how you might as well get AppleTV+ and just binge-watch all three.

Little America
This is a really great feel-good series, something we all need right now. There are 8 episodes available and each episode is a different story based on a real-life one.

For All Mankind
I was hesitant to watch this at first, I knew it was space-related but that was about it so I thought it was going to be a space story based on real-life events. 5 minutes into the first episode I realized, I was wrong. Not going to spoil the idea for you but it’s a show based on the space race of the 60s, but none of the events on the show match what actually happened in real life. It’s much more interesting. The show stars the incredibly talented Joel Kinnaman from The Killing and Altered Carbon and I think it might be the best show I’ve watched this year.

The Morning Show
I started watching this last night after being disappointed by Defending Jacob and I couldn’t stop watching it. I initially started watching it hoping it was similar to one of my all-time favorite shows, The Newsroom and although it isn’t as good, it got me hooked. I’m now more than halfway through the series and looking forward to finishing it up tonight after I’m done with work. The show has an all-star cast with Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell.

Apple had a promo going on where if you purchased certain hardware from them they’d give you a year of AppleTV+ for free. I’m not sure because I wasn’t paying attention when I signed up but I was able to get a year for free I think because I recently purchased a new MacBook Pro. But if you haven’t purchased anything from Apple recently then they’ll give a one week free trial which should be more than enough time to binge-watch all three shows. Have fun, here is the link.

Update: Oh not sure how I forgot but if you’re a fan of It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia, then you should also watch Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet on AppleTV+. It’s funny and stars Mac and Cricket.

A short video recorded back in 1988 showing various parts of Kuwait including the now-demolished Al Salam Building, Souk Mubarakiya, the stock exchange and Sultan Center (which looked a lot better than it does today). If you want to check out other videos recorded back in 1988 including one of ASK, click here.

via Reddit

I recently found out the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait has a COVID-19 information page that contains answers to a lot of common questions that aren’t answered anywhere else. For example, a friend of mine was asking me about curfew passes to the airport, how does that work? If you have a flight to catch can you just show them your ticket or do you need a special pass? What if you don’t have a car, can a friend drop you off? According to the U.S. Embassy website:

How can I drive to the airport during the curfew?
It is our understanding that passengers traveling directly to the airport to depart Kuwait will be permitted to travel with their passport and a copy of their booking and/or ticket showing departure. They should allow additional time for possible stops by relevant authorities and should be wearing face masks while outside their homes.

Can a family member or friend drive me to the airport?
It is our understanding that one person can take passenger(s) directly to the airport as long as they have a copy of the ticket of the traveler. The driver should allow additional time for possible stops by relevant authorities and should be wearing a face mask while outside the home.

The page looks like it’s being updated whenever there is anything new so worth bookmarking since there is very little information out there in English and some of the info isn’t even listed anywhere else to my knowledge. So check it out here.

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A post shared by الحساب الرسمي لتطبيق شلونك (@shlonik2020) on May 17, 2020 at 5:10am PDT

A humorous ad by Shlonik that promotes their app. Shlonik published it last night in their new Instagram account @shlonik2020.

Kuwait is currently performing around 4,000 COVID-19 tests a day, but how does that compare with the rest of the world? Is it a lot? Too little?

According to Worldometer, a website that is trusted by the UK Government, the New York Times, BBC and many others, Kuwait ranks 20th worldwide when it comes to tests per 1 million of the population. The highest tested country in this list is the Faeroe Islands, while UAE ranks third. Below are some highlights but for the full list here is the link.

1- Faeroe Islands
2- Iceland
3- UAE
5- Bahrain
13- Denmark
16- Spain
20- Kuwait
21- Qatar
24- Italy
28- Russia
36- UK
39- USA
66- Saudi Arabia
74- Jordan
91- Lebanon
139- India
147- Egypt

Yesterday evening the first drive-thru COVID-19 testing center opened up to the public. Because there is currently a lockdown and because of the fact we only have one testing facility at the moment, you will need to be invited by the Ministry of Health to be tested.

According to the MOH they will randomly pick people for the large scale COVID-19 testing. People will be notified that they’ve been selected by SMS and an appointment date and time will be shared with them. You are then meant to apply for a curfew pass and head to the Jazeera Airways Park & Fly facility which has been converted to a testing center.

If you receive the message from the Ministry, you head there on the day scheduled and a swab test is performed on you. Your results are usually out within 48 hours. Once done from your test, your car is disinfected by the Fire Department on the way out.

The announcement was made on the MOH Instagram and twitter accounts last night only in Arabic. I was told the reason it was published only in Arabic is that it was only for Kuwaitis, but I’ve also heard this is for expats so not sure who is right.

Then there are two other issues, the first is what if you are picked but you don’t have a car? How do you get to the testing center? The other issue is if this is a mandatory test or not? Going by the comments on twitter there are a lot of people who believe they can’t be forced to be tested, so what happens to people who don’t show up to their appointments?

There is one question that is being asked over and over on the blog and I don’t seem to have a good answer for. How can you get food from the supermarket if you don’t have a Civil ID card? To book an appointment on the moci.shop website you need to have a Civil ID number but that means anyone in Kuwait on a tourist visa, or anyone that moved to Kuwait just before the government shut down and didn’t get their Civil ID yet won’t be able to book an appointment.

There was a blog post that got published yesterday about an American couple in Kuwait on tourist visas complaining about this. Although the article has some inaccurate information in it (there is no 30 item limit when shopping at the supermarket for example), it does highlight this issue further.

So how do you get food if you don’t have a Civil ID? The best options I’ve been able to come up with are the following:

– Order food from the bakala on your street since they are allowed to open during the lockdown.

– Order from the Coop with Whatsapp. Every area coop has a delivery service by Whatsapp and some even have websites. Visit your Coop Instagram account for more information.

Previously I’ve suggested ordering from Oncost since they were delivering during the lockdown but they’ve stopped that now. If you have another option other than the two I’ve listed, let us know in the comments.

Update: A few moments ago @mociq8 posted the graphic below. If you’re in Kuwait on a tourist or family visa you can now book an appointment!

Here is a bit of good news for expats stuck outside of Kuwait, according to the Arab Times, Kuwait will start allowing some expats to come into Kuwait but only under humanitarian basis such as children who have been separated from their families due to the crisis or parents who are stuck abroad. Source

The past few weeks they’ve allowed some expats to fly back in but they were either expats married to Kuwaitis, or domestic workers who flew back in with their Kuwaiti sponsors.

To register to come back you need to visit the Ministry of Foreign affairs website. I’m assuming its the same registration form as the one Kuwaitis used but the Arab Times article doesn’t say. Here is a link to the registration page which was previously used, it’s currently only in Arabic so they’d have to add an English version soon. Link

Update: According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Arab Times article is NOT true and they aren’t planning to set up a website for expats to register on. Only Kuwaitis and first degree relatives of Kuwaitis are currently allowed to come back. Source

Yesterday the MOH added two new categories to their daily COVID-19 updates, the number of Nasopharyngeal (NP) swab tests performed in the last 24 hours, and the total number of tests they’ve done so far. Previous to this I don’t think this data was available to the general public, or at least it wasn’t easy to find.

Based on the comments people have been leaving on the blog related to booking supermarket appointments, I noticed there is some confusion or lack of clarity with the process, as well as some technical issues people are facing. So below are some of the most common questions and issues with their answers.

How do I book a supermarket appointment?
Visit https://www.moci.shop/

How do I use the moci.shop website?
Watch this video:

Can I drive to the supermarket?
Yes. When you get a supermarket appointment you’ll be given two QR codes. One will give you access to the supermarket, the second is a security QR code for when you get stopped by a cop or a checkpoint.

Can I walk to the supermarket?
Yes. When you get a supermarket appointment you’ll be given two QR codes. One will give you access to the supermarket, the second is a security QR code for when you get stopped by a cop.

How often can I book an appointment?
Once every 7 days.

How long can I shop for?
You’re allowed 30 minutes of shopping but readers have said they were allowed to shop for longer.

What is “Civil Serial” number?
You can find your “Civil Serial” on the back of your Civil ID card.

My Civil ID card is expired, can I still use it to book an appointment?
Yes, you can.

On the appointment website when I selected “My address doesn’t match my Civil ID info” it asked for my “Address Auto No”, what is that?
That’s your PACI number which you can find outside your apartment door.

When I select the option to change the address it isn’t recognizing my PACI and giving me the error “Auto Number is Unknown”, how do I fix that?
Find your building PACI number using this link: http://gis.paci.gov.kw/

When I tried to book an appointment I got the error message “Sorry!! Civil ID has no data.” what do I do?
Try again using a different web browser.

I never got a confirmation email with my reference number, how can I cancel my booking?
Call 101

I canceled my appointment but the website isn’t letting me book a new appointment, what do I do?
Many readers have reported this issue, try booking at a different supermarket and if that doesn’t work call 101.

Can I take my husband/wife/mum/friend/whomever with me to the supermarket? How many people can I take with me?
Appointments are valid only for one person so you can’t take anyone with you. If you want to go with someone else to the supermarket, they will have to get their own appointment.

Can an X amount of people go grocery shopping at the same time in the same car?
Yes as long as everyone has their own appointment and for the same time.

How can I book a specific supermarket like Lulu, Saveco or Sultan? I can’t see them on the list?
If you don’t see a specific supermarket in the options you’re given that means you can’t select them. You only have access to the supermarkets in your area.

I am on visit visa and so I don’t have a Civil ID card, can I book an appointment with someone else’s Civil ID?
No, you can’t. If you’re here on your visit visa you can enter the unified number mentioned in the visa in place of the Civil ID and Serial number. This will allow you to book an appointment.

I have a problem and I can’t find the answer to my question, what do I do?
Call 101

I didn’t go out for a walk yesterday but watched the large crowd from my balcony. I live inside the old Salmiya souk and my neighbor told me it was PACKED yesterday so might check it out today just to take some photos. In any case, I noticed a lot of people weren’t wearing masks nor social distancing even though they should.

Can we please cancel the 2 hours go out and mingle rule and just have a proper 24/7 lockdown till the end of the month? I'd rather do this right and get it over with instead of having to do another 24/7 lockdown once this 22/7 lockdown is over. #Kuwait pic.twitter.com/lHwOBWZepi

— mark248am (@mark248am) May 11, 2020

Personally, as I tweeted yesterday, I think these 2 hours should be canceled. But I also live in a large apartment and I have a rower for exercising so it’s easier for me to say that. I don’t understand why people don’t get the concept of social distancing. Are they just not taking the virus seriously? Or are they just not aware of how dangerous it is? It’s been the case ever since the pandemic started.

Looks like courier companies might go back to delivering packages. DHL posted that they will continue to deliver packages during the lockdown and I also heard that Aramex Shop&Ship will also resume service. I have a package coming in with UPS so I’m hoping they’ll continue delivering as well.