KUWAIT CITY, Jan 20, (Agencies): Kuwaiti health sources said the death rate from coronavirus in Kuwait is still the lowest globally, despite the increasing rates of infections and cases which required hospitalization during the current month — coinciding with the increase in infections in most Arab Gulf countries — thanks to the health authorities in Kuwait for adopting strict measures, reports Al-Qabas daily. The sources said the health protocols followed by Kuwait since late February 2020, when Covid cases were discovered, helped contain the virus. Kuwait played a vital role in mitigating the severity of the repercussions of the epidemic, reducing clinical occupancy rates in wards and intensive care units designated for Covid-19 patients, as well as reducing complications arising from it.

The sources pointed out that since the discovery of the omicron mutant in South Africa on Nov 24, Kuwait had recorded only 14 deaths from the virus until the day before yesterday, despite the severity of the current wave accompanying the new mutant locally and regionally, and the large number of infection rates, and what accompanied it. In the Arab world, the death rates from the disease are as follows: in Egypt it reached 5.5%, 19.2% in Yemen, 1.4% in Morocco, 2.8% in Algeria, 1.1% in Jordan, 5.8% in Syria, 1.1% in Lebanon, and 1.4% In Libya, 1.1% in Iraq, 1% in Palestine, 3.2% in Tunisia, 6.4% in Sudan, 0.8% in South Sudan, 5.5% in Somalia, and 1.6% in Mauritania.

The death rate from corona complications in the Gulf was as follows: 1.42% Saudi Arabia, 1.31% Sultanate of Oman, 0.52% Kuwait, 0.45% Bahrain, 0.27% UAE and Qatar 0.21%. According to the sources, the Ministry of Health will not hesitate to add any new treatments that benefit the health of intensive care patients, in the event that global recommendations are issued in this regard.

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health announced on Thursday that 4,510 new Covid-19 infections, 4,109 recoveries and two deaths were confirmed in the last 24 hours. The Ministry’s official spokesman Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad said in a statement to KUNA that the tallies for infections and recoveries hit 484,150 and 436,838 respectively. Deaths went up to 2,482, said the spokesman, revealing that there were 42 patients in ICU, 326 in Covid-19 wards, and 44,830 active cases. He indicated that swab tests hit 6,574,401 with 33,957 new tests carried out in the last 24 hours.