Public urged to abide by curfew

Kuwait reports four deaths, 278 new cases Saturday

KUWAIT CITY, April 25, (Agencies): Kuwait Ministry of Interior called on citizens and expatriates to abide by the new curfew hours that took effect on the first day of Ramadan, Friday, from 4:00 pm until 8:00 am.

It said in a statement people should comply with the curfew hours to avoid any legal action. The curfew was originally imposed as part of efforts to curb spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health reported, Saturday, 278 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the tally to 2,892, while four deaths were reported. The total number of deaths reached 19.

During its daily briefing, Health Ministry Spokesperson Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad said that 58 patients were in intensive care, 25 of them were in critical condition. Those currently receiving treatment at hospitals reached 2,217 patients, said the spokesperson. The deaths were of a Kuwaiti female, 74, an Egyptian, 45, a Bangladeshi national, 64, and an Indian, 59. The deceased were all receiving treatment at ICU. Earlier, Kuwait’s Health Minister Dr Bassel Al-Sabah announced, Saturday, the recovery of 43 people from the coronavirus, bringing the tally to 656.

In remarks to KUNA, the minister said analyses and medical examinations and tests proved that these cases were cured of the coronavirus.

The recovered will be shifted to the hospital recuperation ward, pending their discharge from the hospital during the next two days, he said.

Kuwaiti passes away

Kuwait Foreign Ministry announced a citizen has passed away at Istanbul Airport on Thursday evening, and Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Mohammad Al-Sabah opened an investigation over this case.

The citizen, Anwar Mohammad Al-Ghareeb, came to Istanbul Airport to be repatriated back to Kuwait although he and his family were not listed on Thursday’s flights, and were due to fly Friday, the ministry added in a statement.

The deceased asked, while boarding passes were distributed, employees of Kuwait Consulate in Istanbul who were at the airport to register him and his family in Thursday’s flights, it explained.

The employees asked him to wait until they finish the distribution and to see if there are people who did not show up, then he and his family would be allowed to board, it said, but the deceased became furious and fainted.

Al-Ghareeb was immediately whisked to hospital but he was dead, said the statement.

Minister Sheikh Ahmad instructed an investigation into the causes of the death.

Interior visits checkpoints

Kuwait Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Anas Al-Saleh visited areas where policemen were manning checkpoints and making sure people were complying with curfew, imposed to curb spread of coronavirus, thanking them for their dedication.

Al-Saleh, also Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, visited the checkpoints in Areas of Mahboula and Jleeb Al-Shyoukh, which have been under lockdown, a ministry statement said.

Al-Saleh also visited a 5,000bed quarantine facility that was setup by the Ministry of Public Works opposite Sheikh Jaber AlAhmad Stadium, and was briefed about the process of receiving and admitting coronavirus patients.

Al-Saleh thanked the policemen and workers at the front lines for their dedication and the way they were handling cases.

Delay exacerbates crisis

A number of entrepreneurs called on the government to adopt a set of decisions and activate another set that already exists in order to support the success of the state’s plan to support small and medium enterprises during the current crisis by offering soft loans, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The entrepreneurs explained that a soft loan would help a wide range of small-sized and medium-sized companies whose activities have been affected by the crisis. However, there are companies that need decisions to only overcome obstacles and not additional debts to pay salaries, rents and supplier payments. One of those obstacles is the cooperative societies’ delay in payment to companies due to absence of majority of the board members since the beginning of the crisis, without taking into account the requirements of suppliers.

Some cooperative societies had not paid some suppliers since six months before the crisis, which puts additional pressure on them and deepens their crisis. This problem can be solved by a firm decision from Ministry of Social Affairs for obliging the cooperative societies to pay the accumulated arrears on them to suppliers, and to regularly pay the dues during the current crisis. The government agencies and their officials are satisfied with discussing about cooperative societies, which is not beneficial, as the matter requires enforceable decisions.

Alternative solution is for the government to pay the suppliers’ dues directly or through the banks, and then collect them from the cooperative societies. Some companies distribute their products inside and outside Kuwait, and the decision to stop exports deprives them from distributing the largest part of the products, and even threatens them to incur large losses as a result of the expiry of their products’ validity period if the crisis continues for a long time.

Opening the door for exports would ensure quick cash flows that would help a large number of companies to continue without charging the State the cost of soft loans, and leaving room for other companies in need. This decision would open markets inside and outside Kuwait even if the crisis persists due to the current need of most of the neighboring markets for many products.

On the other hand, the entrepreneurs called on the government to activate the priority rate for small and medium projects stipulated in the Public Tenders Law, which requires the local and foreign contractors to allocate at least five percent of the contracting work to owners of those projects, and at the same time, give preference when awarding bids.

Store in Shuwaikh closed

The Public Authority for Food and Nutrition closed a storehouse at a market in Shuwaikh Industrial Area for selling spoilt foodstuffs, in violation of the health requirements, reports Al-Rai daily.

The inspection supervisor for Capital Governorate Abdullah Al-Siddiqi affirmed that inspectors from the authority embarked on an inspection tour of the food stores in Shuwaikh to ensure the safety of commodities sold there, in view of the large demand of consumers in preparation for the blessed month of Ramadan.

The tour resulted in the detection of a store at the market containing spoilt foodstuffs deemed unfit for human consumption, in addition to poor storage, overcrowding, and high temperature in the place, which is not suitable for storing foodstuffs. He added the storehouse was also found operating without health license from the authority, so the officials were forced to issue citation and close the place administratively.

Al-Siddiqi indicated the inspectors issued citations to several stores for handling expired foodstuffs and keeping food in unhealthy conditions. He pointed out that the tour also included the Meat Market in Mubarakiya Markets where samples of meat sold in the stores were taken and referred to the health laboratory to check and verify its suitability for human consumption. He stressed the need for the stores comply with the health requirements, as the penalty for violation reaches KD 50,000.

He explained the Capital Inspection Department issued citations against 185 stores In March and April for not adhering to the rules of public cleanliness and selling invalid stock, and not conforming to the health and technical requirements. They also took 26 random samples of different kinds of meat in the same period for testing to ensure their safety.

He pointed out that inspection tours of the central and parallel markets, in addition to the restaurants, cooperative societies and their stores, as well as food stores continue. He called on all to adhere to health and technical requirements, and follow the procedures of the Health Ministry such as wearing masks, gloves and sterilization of workers and shoppers to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

MPW builds quarantine beds

Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Housing Affairs Dr Rana Al-Fares declared on Saturday delivering a section of Jaber Al-Ahmad Sports Stadium quarantine to the Ministry of Health.

The initiative was taken to back up efforts by the State and health authorities after increase of numbers of infections with the novel coronavirus, said the minister in a statement.

Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Basel AlSabah attended the handover event.

She praised Kuwait Red Crescent Society for its contribution to building the quarantine and lauded “frontline” volunteers partaking in the fight against the contagion.

Ismail Al-Failakawi, the ministry undersecretary, said in a statement the quarantine was built in three weeks.

The complex includes a field medical center, dormitories for medics and nurses, 5,000 beds, intensive care units and pharmacies.

He explained that the delivered section included 1,250 beds, adding that the other units would be handed over later.