Kuwaiti doctor loses fight with Covid as new infection cases climb to 570
Vaccination dates rescheduled as shipments delayed
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 21, (Agencies): Sacrifices by the medical and nursing staff continue in order to combat the COVID-19 virus and limit its spread. Kuwait recently lost a doctor of Al-Salaam Health Center Aisha Al-Awadhi to this virus, reports AlQabas daily.
According to informed sources, Dr Al-Awadhi contracted the virus during her work on the front-lines in testing the public at the clinic. After she was infected, she was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit in a hospital about a month ago where she remained until she died this Tuesday due to severe complications.
In the same context, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of Health Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad appreciated the efforts exerted by the medical personnel in the front-line of defense in their confrontation with this pandemic.
He said, “We honor at this time the martyr of duty Dr Aisha Abdul Wahid Al-Awadhi, who died as a result of COVID-19 infection”.
Users of social media sites mourned the passing away of Dr Al-Awadhi on various platforms, recalling the sacrifices made by the medical teams and other workers on the front-lines in the face of the pandemic since last February.
Infections
Meanwhile, Kuwait listed 570 new coronavirus infections and no virus-related deaths on Thursday taking the total cases up to 159,834 as deaths remain unchanged at 951 respectively, the health ministry said.
The number of people hospital
ised with the virus currently stands at 6,057, with 51 of them in intensive care units, according to ministry spokesman Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad, who revealed that some 10,712 swab tests were conducted over the last day out of a total of 1,436,192.
The ministry had earlier reported that some 406 more people had been cured of the virus over the past day, raising the total of those to have overcome the disease to 152,826.
Precautions
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.
In another development, the Ministry of Health announced rescheduling coronavirus vaccination appointments, as shipments from the manufacturing company (Pfizer/ Biontech) would be delayed for Kuwait and the whole world, because of the halt in factory’s production to expand it.
The company will not export the amount of vaccination agreed upon to the countries for a period of time, but the ministry will reschedule dates to ensure a continuous vaccination
campaign, the ministry told KUNA in a statement on Thursday.
The coronavirus situation in Kuwait is “stable”, Dr. Al-Sanad said, but called for adhering to the preventive measures to avoid a rise in cases.
Speaking at a news conference, AlSanad noted that the number of people who deserve coronavirus vaccines at present hit 2,775,000 after excluding those who are below 16 years.
He hoped all people could receive COVID-19 vaccines throughout the year, pointing to the global competition of demand for the vaccines.
“We are receiving vaccines periodically through phases,” he said, hoping for getting more doses in the next months to help those who want vaccination.
The MoH has created an appropriate environment to store vaccines, in line with the standards set by the manufacturers, he pointed out.
No doses have been damaged so far for any reason, he stressed.
Women
And, two Kuwaiti women who arrived from the United Kingdom, which is classified among the highrisk countries, have been discovered to be infected with the new strain of
COVID-19, even though the results of the PCR tests they conducted in the departing country were negative. They have been subject to quarantine procedures according to the approved protocols and the recommendations of the World Health Organization, which is a 14-day quarantine period without any change. Therefore, with the arrival of the two Kuwaiti women from the United Kingdom, the mutated COVID-19 has arrived in Kuwait, reports Al-Rai daily quoting reliable health sources.
Measures
The sources explained that the Ministry of Health has applied the precautionary measures laid down within the health preparedness plan. Epidemiological investigation measures have been taken to ensure continued control and containment of the spread of the virus.
The ministry stated that the two cases of the new mutated COVID-19 virus were discovered after the two citizens tested positive at Kuwait International Airport, adding that a genetic planning examination was conducted which confirmed they were infected with the latest genetic mutation pattern of the virus.