Partial curfew remains after May 30
608 infections Tuesday
KUWAIT CITY, May 26, (KUNA): Kuwait government will not extend the full curfew due to end Saturday, May 30, and will turn to partial curfew to pave way for the restoration of normal life, Deputy Premier and Interior Ministry Anas AlSaleh has said.
Al-Saleh, also Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, was speaking at an online news conference following a Cabinet meeting to discuss how to restore normal life next week.
He said the government would be announcing more details about the gradual restoration of normal life on Thursday.
The government was expecting improvement of the health situation due to compliance with the full curfew, which entered force on May 10.
“I would like to thank everyone for their great commitment to the full curfew and hopefull this commitment will continue with the partial curfew,” said Al-Saleh.
Al-Saleh said the Ministry of health believed the full curfew contributed to improving the situation in the country.
Al-Saleh, meanwhile, said the government formed a committee with a mandate of honoring those working in the frontline in line with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s instructions.
Bader Al-Hamad, Undersecretary of the Civil Services Commission (CSC), spoke in the same news conference about honoring the employees working between February 24 and May 31 financially.
He said the committee classified employees working during the pandemic crisis into three segments.
The first were employees of the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Health who were directly dealing with infected people and suspected infectees, said Al-Hamad.
The second, he added, were people working in government departments who were dealing with suspected cases, working in border crossings, quarantine facilities and clinics.
The third category, said AlHamad, were employees working in supporting lines who were assigned to work during the partial or full curfew.
Those employees, continued Al-Hamad, would be honored in accordance with the degree of risk they were exposed to: high and medium.
He said the government would consider people dying from the virus as martyrs, and infectees would be given a special allowance until their recovery.
MoH reports 608 infections
Meanwhile the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health reported, Tuesday, 608 new coronavirus (COVID-19) infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the tally to 22,575. Deaths hit 172 with seven new fatalities.
During the daily briefing, Health Ministry’s spokesperson Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad said that 196 patients were in intensive care.
Those currently receiving treatment at hospitals reached 15,097 patients, said the spokesperson, adding that a number of 2,395 swabs were taken in the last 24 hours.
Earlier today, Health Minister Dr. Bassel Al-Sabah announced the recovery of 685 patients as the total is brought to 7,306 recoveries.
More facilities eyed
Kuwait government adopted a set of decisions Monday dealing with quarantine facilities and improving accommodation of workers amidst spread of coronavirus.
The Cabinet assigned the Public Authority of Sport to hand over the halls in Tadhamon Sport Club to the quarantine team to be transformed into a field emergency unit to support Farwaniya Hospital, government spokesman Tareq Al-Mezrem told an online news conference following a cabinet meeting.
The Cabinet, he added, obliged all companies to provide housing units for their workers who were infected
with coronavirus. Those units, he said, should be equipped with all necessary needs in line with Ministry of Health’s instructions.
The government, said Al-Mezrem, assigned Ministry of Finance to lease hotels to be used as quarantine facilities.
The government also assigned the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources to coordinate with Kuwait Flour Mills Company to provide fodder to livestock owners.
The authority should also coordinate with Public Authority for Industry and the Environment Public Authority (EPA) to study possible establishment of light-industry factories within the farm land, used as recycling wasted fodder. MoH sets out treatment mechanism The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health on Monday adopted a fresh mechanism for dealing with medical staff infected with the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).
If someone from medical teams unfortunately contracts the virus, he or she will be home-quarantined and then be tested on the fifth day of infection, the ministry’s Undersecretary Dr. Mustafa Redha told KUNA.
In case of negative tests, he or she will be allowed to get back to work, provided that personal protection kids be used, he stressed.
Confirmed positive cases will be placed under home quarantine and be then tested on the 12th or 13th day and in case of negative tests, then the will be able to return to work in the 14th day, he elaborated.