Bars that have not complied with a government request to close will risk having their licenses revoked.

‘We have heavy hands to bear on such behaviour but we would prefer to get the job done without that,” Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowkey said at a post-cabinet news briefing revoking bar licences for those who continue to operate despite calls to close.

Dr Rowley said the Attorney General Faris al Rawi can look into whether the bar owners who insist on opening would be posing a threat to public health as the basis for revoking their license.

Dr  Rowley strongly condemned the people who have been gathering river times, especially at Caura who fail to appreciate that individual responsibility can help to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.