Ten cases bring total to 235
16,000 taxis pulled off road
KUWAIT CITY, March 28, (Agencies): Kuwait confirms 10 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases during the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 235, said the Health Ministry on Saturday.
In a statement to KUNA, the ministry’s spokesperson Dr Abdullah AlSanad said that seven cases of Kuwaiti nationals related to travel to US, UK, Saudi Arabia, UAE, France, and one for a resident related to travel to
Canada.
Furthermore, one case was in contact with confirmed infected people, noting that one case for an Indian resident under investigation.
The Spokesman revealed that out of the 235 cases, 64 of them have recovered and 171 are still receiving treatment.
He indicated that there are 11 cases still in the ICU. Some 910 individuals had finished the quarantine period, he affirmed. The Ministry of Health urged the citizens and residents to abide by all the decisions and recommendations issued by authorities.
Kuwaiti Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Basel Al-Sabah said Saturday that seven people recovered from the novel coronavirus, raising the country’s total recoveries to 64.
The Minister told KUNA that lab tests and analyses had shown their recovery and now they are being transferred to rehabilitation ward, in preparation for their release within the next two days.
Taxis pulled
A total of 16,000 roaming and on-call taxis have been pulled off the road following a decision issued by the Council of Ministers to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, reports Al-Anba daily.
The daily added, 10,000 of these are roaming taxis and 6,000 on-call taxis. All the licences are given only to Kuwaitis.
The source said the Ministry of Interior carries out security campaigns to arrest taxi drivers and seize their vehicles in the event of violating the decision.
The source pointed out most of the taxi drivers are Asians. In response to a question about how expatriates who do not have a driving license can move around or go to hospital, the Ministry of Interior is competent enough to satisfy these needs.
Food needs
The Kuwaiti Cabinet adopted a fresh package asking the Kuwait Supply Company to answer all food needs. The Cabinet also directed paying one month’s salary to all overseas students.
The remarks were given by Government Spokesman Tareq Al-Mezrem during a press conference at Sief Palace following an extraordinary Cabinet meeting on state response to novel coronavirus.
As per the latest edicts, the Kuwait Supply Company would provide the local market with all food staples to be determined by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, while countrywide taxi services would be “suspended”, Al-Mezrem noted.
In addition, all overseas’ students, whether they have state scholarships or not, would be given one month’s salary, the spokesman said.
This move in particular is intended to ease out the difficult conditions of Kuwaiti students abroad and to mitigate the reflections of the novel coronavirus, he added.
Finally, the Cabinet decided to halt attendance for all press conferences and briefings but to use the video-conferencing system instead in order to observe rules on social distancing to curb the outbreak.
KD 10 mln for KFAS
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has instructed Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) to allocate KD 10 million ($30.3 million) for an emergency response program to mitigate coronavirus fallout, said KFAS Thursday.
The move is meant to back up the great efforts of the government to rein in the spread of the novel coronavirus worldwide, the KFAS said in a press statement.
The emergency response program against the globally spreading disease encompasses the realms of public health and education, it added.
The anti-COVID-19 endeavor aims at supporting the KFAS-affiliated Desman Diabetes Institute’s technique to sequence the genome of the coronavirus, study receptors for high risks of
infections with the virus and design highly precise diagnoses, it elaborated.
It is also intended to offer relevant training courses to doctors and healthcare providers directly connected with buttressing field effectiveness and response to contagious diseases, according to the statement.
As for education, the aforementioned program mainly targets a tentative online education initiative purposed to continue learning during the class suspension period, it added.
Kuwaitis home
A plane, carrying Kuwaiti repatriates, arrived Friday evening in the country from London, said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
DGCA’s twitter account affirmed that the flight was part of the repatriation plan launched by the government amid the coronavirus global pandemic.
Earlier, a flight coming from Spain arrived carrying Kuwaiti citizens.
Thursday, three flights landed in the State of Kuwait as part of the repatriation process beginning on Wednesday and lasting until next Sunday.
The repatriation process is carried out within guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and health authorities in Kuwait.