of health also confirmed on that day that some of the cases in the country had occurred from home deliveries. the first death outside the muscat governorate was reported on 5 may, in the north batina governorate. the total confirmed cases in the muscat governorate surpassed over 2,000 on 6 may. on 8 may, the total number of recoveries crossed 1,000. the total tally of confirmed cases in the sultanate surged over 5,000 on 16 may. a press conference held by the supreme committee outlined various punishments and fines for violators of guidelines which had been issued so far, including imprisonment for all violators for 48 hours. it was also announced that 25 patients had received plasma treatment so far of which 18 had recovered. the minister of health stated that the fatality rate was higher in the expatriate community as they reached hospitals later. on 22 may, the total number of cases in muscat governorate surpassed over 5,000, while the cases crossed over 1,000 in two of its wilayat, baushar and seeb. the total number of cases surpassed over 10,000 on 30 may. lockdown in muscat was lifted on 29 may but the wilayat of muttrah remained isolated with various checkpoints in place per decisions taken by the supreme committee. oman recorded more than 1,000 new cases in a single since the beginning of the outbreak on 31 may, the record being 1,014. at the end of the month, the total number of cases stood at 11,437, of which a total of 2,396 had recovered while 49 had died, while over 100,000 tests had been conducted. june 2020 on 1 june, as the total cases in oman crossed 12,000, the health minister stated that the rise in cases over the past few days was due to various ramadan and eid gatherings, saying, "if you look at the figures, the cases began to increase during the second half of ramadan and then it just shot up during eid because people are flouting the social distancing rules and they are still gathering." the total number of cases in the muscat governorate crossed 10,000 on 3 june, accounting for 75.8% of the total cases in oman by this day. by early june 2020, over 5,000 cases had been reported in muttrah alone. the wilayat remained under isolation even after the lockdown in the muscat governorate was lifted. the sanitary isolation in the wilayat of muttrah was lifted in most of its parts on 6 june. five new places in the country were placed under lockdown on 13 june, the governorate of dhofar, the wilayat of masirah, the wilayat of duqm and the areas of jebel akhdar and jebel shams until 3 july. data reported by the ministry of health until 9 june showed that majority of the covid-19 cases and deaths due to it have been reported in the expatriate community. of the total 18,198 cases reported in the country by that day, 11,107 or 61% were among expatriates, while of the total 83 deaths, 53 were expatriates. the supreme committee allowed a number of commercial activities and services to reopen on 10 june. at a press conference held by the supreme committee on 11 june, it was revealed that the rate of the spread of infection in the wilayat of muttrah had decreased from 60% to 35%. on 14 june, the total death toll in the country due to covid-19 crossed 100, while the wilayat of seeb surpassed muttrah in total number of cases at over 5,600. on 15 june, the country once again recorded more than 1,000 new cases at a total of 1,043. the undersecretary of minister of health stated the same day that oman is yet to reach the peak of infections. from mid to late june, oman recorded more than 1,000 new cases in a single day multiple times. the country recorded the highest single day increase in cases since the beginning of the outbreak on 22 june, with a total of 1,605 new cases, taking the total number of cases over 31,000. by end of june, there were a total of 40,070 cases in the country with 23,425 recoveries and 176 deaths. response and prevention measures march 2020 in early march, the ministry of health directed all retail outlets, including shopping malls and supermarkets, to install sanitizers as a preventive measure against the spread of coronavirus. sultan haitham formed a supreme committee tasked with dealing and responding to the developments resulting from the outbreak. on 12 march, the committee decided that tourist visas will not be issued to citizens of all countries and also stopped entry and docking of cruise ships in country's ports. furthermore, all sports events were cancelled, court attendance limited to essential personnel and the sale of shisha prohibited in restaurants and cafes. these measures were implemented on march 15 for a period of 30 days. on 14 march, the committee decided to suspend all classes in schools, universities and other educational institutions from 15 march for 30 days. this decision was revised in early april by the supreme committee and a decision was taken for the suspension to remain until further notice. another meeting held on the next day pronounced new restrictions which included stopping the entry of foreigners apart from gcc citizens and foreign residents via all land and sea borders, quarantining all arrivals and the closures of public parks and gardens. it was also declared that friday prayers are to be stopped and social gatherings like weddings are banned. the decisions went into effect on 17 march. multiple museums around the country were also closed on the day indefinitely. starting 18 march, the sulthanate imposed further restrictions. the entry to the country was restricted only to omani nationals, and nationals were not allowed to depart to other countries. all places of worship, including mosques were closed. all gatherings, events and conferences were suspended. the government banned public gatherings at all tourism sites as well as closure of cinemas, gyms, sport clubs, barber shops and all shops in shopping malls apart from foodstuff and medical outlets. the popular souqs at various locations around the country such as muttrah, nizwa, al rustaq and sinaw were also ordered to be shut down. restaurants and coffee shops were also banned from serving food and only allowed takeaway services. also on the day, the central bank of oman issued a number of directives to all licensed banks and financing leasing companies operating in oman that it is expected to provide additional available liquidity in a range of omr 8 billion, to overcome the prevailing economic conditions. during mid march, the royal oman police provided an integrated medical team to operate the mobile hospital affiliated to the directorate general of medical services to handle the field cases and suspected cases of covid-19. on 19 march, all public transport apart from buses and ferries heading to the governorate of musandam and the wilayat of masirah was suspended. on 21 march, legal action including detainment was taken against individuals spreading false information regarding the pandemic. starting from 23 march, the royal oman police stopped all customer services related to civil status, traffic, passports and residency until further notice. the supreme committee further issued new measures on 22 march. these included reducing the number of employees present in workplaces in government agencies to not more than 30%, preventing gatherings of all kinds in public places, closures of money exchange services with only banks being responsible for those now along with customer services outlets in all public and private institutions. on 24 march, the ministry of health issued an order for pharmacies to dispense medicine and other items only through the duty window on their main door to stem the outbreak. the ministry of transport on tuesday decided to reduce the number of passengers in taxis in the sultanate from three to two passengers, excluding the taxi driver until further notice the same day. sultan haitham donated omr 10 million for tackling the coronavirus outbreak in the country on 26 march. the national youth committee of the country called-on volunteers to aid in the relief and sheltering measures to combat coronavirus (covid-19) on the same day. also on the day, the ministry of tourism stated that over 40 hotels across the sultanate had provided around 2,816 hotel rooms to be used as covid-19 relief and shelters under the supervision of the ministry of health. they were to be mainly used as institutional quarantine centres for omanis arriving from abroad. to prevent community infection, the hotels were divided into three categories, some for asymptomatic individuals, others for suspected cases while a number were dedicated for medical treatment of infected cases. to further aid in steps to curb the outbreak, medical materials were brought in from the chinese city of shenzhen with the help of the royal air force of oman on 27 march. these included a number of reagents and solutions that match the standards set by the world health organization, as well as personal protective equipment and lab screening tests. the royal army of oman activated emergency plans and formed field teams to conduct disinfection and sterilization of roads and public places across the sultanate. to stem community infections, the government closed fish markets in three governorates of north batinah, south batinah and ash sharqiyah south on 28 march until further notice. the ministry of health issued guidelines on 29 march including a "checklist" of protocols, facilities, and measures that private hospitals and clinics must have in place to help prevent, control and manage suspected or confirmed covid-19 infections on their premises. this resulted in a number of private clinics shutting across the sultanate. the same day, the public prosecution (pp) said that nine people were arrested for spreading rumors on covid-19 while four cases of violations of the measures were also recorded. the violations included gatherings for the purpose of mourning, group prayers, and the practice of suspended professions and disobeying the rules of home quarantine. bank dhofar and the national bank of oman each pledged a contribution of omr 1 million in support of the health services fighting against the spread of the novel coronavirus in oman on 29 march. on 30 march, the public prosecution said that nine individuals were arrested and held in custody for spreading rumors on covid-19 while four cases of violations of the measures imposed were also recorded. warrants for the arrest of 11 defendants for violating the procedures of home isolation were also issued, they were arrested and sent for institutional isolation. also on the day, the ministry of commerce and industry announced that it had successfully produced medical equipment using 3-d printing technology as part of the national efforts to combat the pandemic. by 31 march, a total of 2016 individuals were put under institutional quarantine. april 2020 starting 1 april, the country restricted movement between the governorates by installing checkpoints on entry and exit points on the roads. the only exemptions allowed included ambulances and emergency vehicles, military and security vehicles, vehicles transporting foodstuffs and other essentials and vehicles transporting commercial and construction materials, petroleum derivatives and other materials used by the public and private sectors. essential public and private sector employees were also allowed to enter and leave the regions. the checkpoints were removed on 28 april. the directorate-general of muscat municipality also launched precautionary and preventive spraying campaign in the wilayat of seeb in an effort to combat the spread of the pandemic on the same day. also on 1 april, the wilayat of muttrah was isolated from other parts of muscat. entry and exit of people was put on a halt after a sharp increase in the number of cases in the region. the minister of health, dr. ahmed mohammed al saidi stated, "muttrah was closed because it is the centre of the coronavirus infection, and because social transmission had begun there." the sultan's armed forces (saf) and royal oman police (rop) also started to enforce joint checkpoints on the roads linking the entrances and exits of the sultanate's governorates the same day. the muscat municipality cleansed and sterilised the central market of vegetables and fruits in mawaleh as a precaution on 4 april. oman lng pledged omr 6 million to support the national health