KUWAIT CITY, Feb 17, (Agencies): His Highness the Amir Wednesday commended government authorities’ efforts, namely Ministry of Health whose health care workers were at the frontline in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. His Highness the Amir made the remarks during a reception of Minister of health Sheikh Dr. Bassel Hmoud Al-Sabah who briefed His Highness the Amir about health conditions in the country and preventive measures implemented by the MoH to confront the pandemic. Sheikh Dr. Bassel also spoke about “dangerous developments” of pandemic which required further efforts to curb its spread with the objective of preserving the health system in Kuwait. He also briefed His Highness the Amir about his presentation he made at the National Assembly and the “smooth” vaccination campaign.

His Highness the Amir reiterated confidence in His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah for the efforts carried out by the government to confront the pandemic. He praised government authorities, foremost the MoH for being at the frontline in the fight against Covid-19, which reflected “high national spirit” of the people of this dear country.

His Highness the Amir appreciated His Highness the Prime Minister’s cooperation with the Parliament members to address all issues concerning citizens. Kuwait said 1,017 people tested positive for coronavirus with five related deaths reported on Wednesday taking the total cases up to 180,505 as deaths rose to 1,019 respectively, according to the health ministry. The ministry also reported that 819 more people have been cured of the virus, raising the total of those to have overcome the disease to 168,420, spokesman Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad told a press conference.

Revealing
The number of people hospitalised with the virus currently stands at 11,066, with 139 of them in intensive care units, he added, revealing that some 10,276 swab tests were conducted over the last day out of a total of 1,697,459. He went on to urge nationals and expatriates alike that abiding by health precautions, mainly, following social distancing rules, is the only way to halt the spread of the virus.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to heavy damage to all health, economic, educational and social sectors globally, Ministry of Health (MoH) Spokesman Dr. Abdullah Al-Sabah said on Tuesday. Speaking at a news conference, Al- Sanad said the most losses were human casualties, pointing to the approval of several vaccines that aim to reduce the ratio of possible infections, thanks to efforts made by scientists over months. He affirmed the importance of vaccination to get out of this pandemic and noted that there are two parallel paths to deal with this crisis: implementing continually preventive measures and accelerating the process of vaccination.

Despite a rise in the recovered cases, the proportion of recoveries stands at 93.4 percent, he said, attributing this to an increase in infections. The number of cases is higher than the recovery rate during the past period, Al- Sanad said, hoping for a decline in cases and a rise in recoveries. The ratio between infections and swab tests hit 9.3 percent on Tuesday, compared with 9.2 on Monday, he stated. The infected cases since the beginning of February until Tuesday reached 13,645, he noted, pointing to a rise in intensive care units’ patients.

He also spoke about an increase in death rate that reached 55 mortalities in 16 days. Al-Sanad lauded all medical staff and those who work in hospitals’ wards and ICUs. The State of Kuwait delivered USD one-million worth of medical equipment and drugs to Iraq’s Kurdistan to help the region face the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), said a Kuwaiti diplomat Wednesday. In a statement to KUNA, General Consul of Kuwait in Irbil Dr. Omar Al- Kanderi revealed that his country was coordinating with the World Health Organization (WHO) to deliver Kuwait’s contribution as part of the “Kuwait by your side” campaign.

The diplomat affirmed that the State of Kuwait was keen on providing all sort of assistances to Iraq including assistance in the medical field. On his part, WHO Representative in Iraq Dr. Ahmad Zouiten commended the Kuwaiti contributions to Iraq, which was reflective of the strong relations linking the two countries. He indicated that the current upward spread of COVID-19 infections required solidarity and cooperation to rid the world of the current pandemic status.