KUWAIT CITY, Feb 1: In confirmation of what was published by the Al- Seyassah daily two weeks ago that ‘Covid 20 has seeped into the country, and infections are increasing at the rate of 20 percent per week’ the daily infections with the virus continued to rise gradually, as the rate of infection compared to the number of swabs jumped to 7.1% yesterday, an increase of about 69% from the past few weeks when the rate of infection read between 4 and 5 percent.

The Ministry of Health has renewed its call to citizens and residents to continue adopting all preventive measures, avoid contact with others, and remain committed to physical distancing, and follow the instructions that have been issued from time to time.

Meanwhile, Kuwait Ministry of Health (MoH) on Monday listed 586 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases bringing caseload of contaminations with the contagion to 165,843 since eruption of the pandemic locally months ago. MoH official spokesperson Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad said in a statement to KUNA no new fatalities with the contagious disease were registered during the same period, thus mortalities’ toll steadied at 959.

Amounted
Dr. Al-Sanad has added number of people who are receiving treatment at intensive care units has amounted to 54, thus the whole count of the confirmed infection cases and remained under medical care has stood at 6,408. He pointed out that 8,681 swab tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of such examinations to 1.538,262.

Proportion of the infections as compared to the number of swab tests, during the last 24 hours, stood at 6.7 percent. Following the ‘terrifying’ reports about the new, more deadly and ferocious ‘Nipah’ virus, as the world is still struggling to contain the Covid-19 pandemic especially after the emergence of a mutated version the Al- Seyassah daily has learned that the health authorities have sent an urgent recommendation to the Council of Ministers to oblige citizens wishing to travel to stay in institutional quarantine for 14 days, the financial cost of which will be borne by the citizen; to limit travel unless absolutely necessary and to prevent the airport from being closed.

An informed source said the new strict measures will be applied elsewhere, and instructions from the health authorities to prevent weddings from being held in farms and chalets will be issued during the next few days as part of a package of measures that may include closing restaurants and commercial complexes.

The source added, “Friendly countries close to Kuwait have implemented decisive measures during the past hours and days, and we are not far from them.” The source stressed the Ministry of Health is closely following all international reports issued regarding the new ‘Nipah’ virus, which is prevalent in Bangladesh and Cambodia, indicating that the authorities will take the necessary preventive measures to prevent the virus from seeping into Kuwait.

While the ‘partial lockdown’ is not discussed at the moment, the source stressed that in the event of an increase in the rate of infections, nothing has been ruled out.

The Ministry of Health announced 200,000 doses of the ‘Oxford’ vaccine, which is ‘Made in India’ with a license from the global ‘AstraZeneca’ company, arrived in Kuwait at dawn today, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

Meanwhile, a press release issued by the Embassy of India, Kuwait welcomed the arrival in Kuwait Made-in-India AstraZeneca COVISHIELD vaccines manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, Pune. A shipment of 200,000 doses of ‘Made-in-India’ COVISHIELD vaccines has reached Kuwait in the early hours of Feb 1, 2021. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Republic of India and the State of Kuwait have seen close bilateral cooperation in fighting the pandemic together. Rightly called the ‘Pharmacy of the World’ and the largest manufacturer of vaccines globally, India is contributing with Indian-made vaccines to many countries in the neighborhood and beyond.

By Marwa Al-Bahrawi and Khaled Al-Hajri Al-Seyassah Staff and Agencies