KUWAIT CITY, Jan 4, (Agencies): Kuwait’s health ministry said on Sunday that people with chronic diseases and special needs should be prioritized as a mass inoculation campaign against Covid-19 continues, with health workers and the elderly already at the front of the line.

The shots would be administered on a “priority basis” through online pre-registration, inevitably leading to a vaccine rollout to the wider population, which is in line with the ministry’s efforts to safeguard public health, it said in a statement. The measure also aims to protect the most exposed groups and those higher at risk of developing COVID-19 complications, added the statement.

The Ministry of Health said Sunday that 372 coronavirus cases were confirmed over the past 24 hours, raising Kuwait’s caseload to 151,715. The death increased to 938, the Ministry’s spokesman Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad told KUNA. The number of Covid-19 patients receiving care at hospitals stands at 3,266, including 51 ICU occupants, he said. As many as 5,067 swab tests were conducted over the last 24 hours, taking the overall tests 1272,017, Dr. Al-Sanad added.

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) decided to suspend the flights to and from the United Kingdom as from 4:00 am. Wednesday, January 6, until further notice.

The decision will be revised later on in view of the recommendations of the Kuwaiti health authorities, Spokesman of the Directorate Saad Al- Otaibi told KUNA on Sunday night. Earlier today, DGCA President Sheikh Salman Sabah Al Salem Al Hamoud Al Sabah inspected the health precautions put in place at Kuwait International Airport.

The DGCA has introduced, in collaboration with the health authorities, a range of measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid- 19), particularly the new variant of the virus, Al-Otaibi noted. These include conducting PCR tests for all travelers arriving in Kuwait to make sure they are free from the new strain, which was first identified in the UK.

In the meantime, the DGCA said the ban on flights to and from Kuwait was lifted at dawn last Saturday, after slapping it on Dec 21, 2020, informed sources in the DGCA put the number of flights that landed and took off at 70. However, the incoming flights from 35 countries including India, Iran, China, Brazil, Columbia, Armenia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Syria, Spain, Singapore, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Iraq, Mexico, Indonesia, Chile, Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Hong Kong, Italy, North Macedonia, Moldova, Panama, Peru, Serbia, Montenegro, Dominican Republic, UK and Kosovo, remain in place since the Kuwaiti health authorities has not changed its decision due to the situation and repercussions caused by the spread of the coronavirus.

The citizens of these countries cannot directly enter Kuwait, but can enter after passing through a third country from where flights are permitted to land provided they stay in that country for 14 days.