Full lockdown from May 10
KUWAIT: The Cabinet has decided to impose a total lockdown in the country for three weeks starting Sunday, May 10 until May 30 after a steep rise in the number of coronavirus cases, government spokesman Tareq Al-Mizrem announced. The decision was made during an extraordinary meeting held by the Cabinet on Friday to assess the health situation in the country, Mizrem said.
Mizrem said the lockdown was decided based on recommendations by the health
authorities and will start at 4 pm on Sunday and end on May 30, which means the remaining two weeks of Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr holidays are included. Mizrem said the Council of Ministers assigned the interior minister to “implement the total curfew in the country and that employees of vital installations will be allowed to leave home”.
He said the Cabinet also decided to suspend the work of the private sector and suspended delivery services except for cooperative societies and pharmacies. The Cabinet said that people are allowed to exercise walking between 4.30 to 6.30 pm daily but are not allowed to drive. People will be required to wear protective masks. The Cabinet also decided to form a main emergency team in each governorate.
Interior Minister Anas Al-Saleh told a press conference the lockdown is the final stage of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, saying that life will begin returning to normal after the lockdown ends on May 30. He said that employees at vital installations like electricity, oil and municipality, in addition to employees at private firms assisting them will be allowed to continue operations during the lockdown to ensure the continuity of essential services.
All banks will be closed, but will continue to provide services electronically. In addition, print newspapers will be suspended and home deliveries will be allowed only for essential food and pharmaceutical supplies. Health Minister Sheikh Basel Al-Sabah called on all to cooperate with the lockdown to ensure its success, adding that it was imposed after the return of over 29,000 citizens from abroad. He said the number of infections among citizens began to rise after April 22 with the start of an airlift to bring citizens back home.
Minister of Commerce and Industry Khaled AlRoudhan called on the public not to panic because food supplies and storage are sufficient for a very
long time, adding that the coronavirus is a health crisis and “we will not allow it to become a food crisis”. He urged the public not to stockpile foodstuff because it is available in good quantities.
The ministry has launched online reservation to purchase essentials from cooperative societies and supermarkets and one person from each family will be allowed to go once every six days. Minister of State for Municipality Affairs Waleed Al-Jassem said that private supermarkets and grocery stores will remain open in various areas.
The ministry of health reported Saturday 415 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the tally to 7,623. Deaths reached 49 with two new cases. The ministry’s official spokesperson Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad said in a statement to KUNA that among the infected cases discovered in past 24 hours, there are 92 Egyptians, 89 Indians, 86 Kuwaitis and 51 Bangladeshis.
Densely populated governorates Farwaniya and Hawally topped with the number of cases. The former had 172 cases and the latter 108, in addition to Capital governorate with 60 cases, Ahmadi with 48 and Jahra with 27. Sanad revealed 95 patients remain in intensive care units, adding that the overall number of infected persons who continue to receive medical care has reached 4,952.
Up to 556 patients were discharged from quarantine in the past 24 hours but would subject themselves to home isolation for 14 days, Sanad said. Earlier, the health ministry announced the recovery of 156 people from COVID-19, bringing the tally to 2,622 recoveries.
The health ministry reported on Friday 641 new coronavirus cases, the largest tally on a single day in addition to three deaths, including a 62-year-old Egyptian doctor, Tareq Hussein Mukhaimer, the first physician to die in the country because of the deadly virus. Of the new cases reported Friday, 160 were for Indians, 157 for Kuwaitis and 122 for Egyptians and the rest for several nationalities. According to statistics, in March there were 300 cases which rose to 4,000 cases in April but surged to 3,200 cases in the first eight days of May. In addition, there was a steep rise in cases among Kuwaiti citizens recording 655 cases in the first eight days of May.