Politicians, experts say govt’s plan for return to normal lifestyle not specific
‘No clear strategy on how to live with coronavirus’
KUWAIT CITY, May 19: Despite their praise and support for calls to ease restrictions of coronavirus crisis and implement gradual return of normal life in line with regulations at the end of this month, a number of MPs, politicians and economists describe the government’s views on implementing this approach as “vague” and “not specific”, reports Al-Qabas daily.
They said the return of normal life and coexisting with coronavirus require more transparency and seriousness, as the government has not presented a clear plan about what it would be like to live with coronavirus.
They affirmed that Kuwait initially excelled many countries in dealing with the coronavirus crisis, but the government’s actions reached a roadblock later whereby its decisions hit hesitation and confusion.
They insisted that decisions to allow activities that were banned with the exacerbation of the epidemic revealed the weakness of the government’s decisions and absence of the planning horizon for finding solutions.
They called on the government to use local and international consultants to properly plan the gradual return of normalcy instead of random and confused decisions that could exacerbate the crisis eventually.
In this regard, MP Safaa Al-Hashem said: “I support the return of life to normal if the health authorities give the green signal for this”.
She stressed that the return must be deliberate and with great commitment, ensuring adherence to all warnings, measures, precautions and instructions such as social distancing, use of masks and gloves,and continuous sterilization.”
Also, MP Muhammad Al-Dalal praised the introduction of the topic towards searching for a mechanism to coexist with the coronavirus crisis in case it persists.
He stressed that the government should lay down a clear scenario for the next stage, irrespective of whether or not there is a cure for the disease.
Al-Dalal said, “It is not reasonable that we remain in total or partial lockdowns. An alternative plan for coexistence and gradual return to normal life must be established. In this regard, I will submit a parliamentary question to the State Minister for Cabinet Affairs about the government’s preparations for the next stage and how it will deal with all assumptions that may occur. This is to consider end of the epidemic in case a treatment is found or if the epidemic will continue for a long time, and what visions and strategic plans could be used to deal with the epidemic if it continues, including the topic of coexisting with the epidemic”.
Meanwhile, former minister Dr. Ali Al-Omair expressed enthusiasm about the return of normal life and the measures put in place to come out of the total lockdown through 12 steps that can be applied.
He insisted that Kuwait has to learn from the experiences of other countries.
Dr. Al-Omair said, “We are now witnessing gradual resumption of life in countries where the spread of the virus has been more deadly, such as Britain, the Netherlands and Germany. Despite being countries more developed in the health aspect, the infections were fatal and the death rate was high. Nevertheless, they have started returning to normal life. This is because irrespective of the impact of the virus, life has to move on.”
He added, “Kuwait will undoubtedly have to coexist with the virus. This was highlighted in the speech of His Highness the Prime Minister when he spoke about the end of this month, a date that seems to have been set in light of what was reported to him by the health authorities that the number of smears by that date will be required to know extent of the spread of the virus”.
In addition, Professor of Political Science at Kuwait University Shafiq Al-Ghabra said he believes the return to normal life should be gradual with careful consideration of the opinions of experts, doctors and specialists regarding the next steps, adding that politicians cannot act without taking into account the opinion of experts.
He explained that the country needs an approach through which it is possible to answer many public questions. The first would be to address about the groups that will represent the greatest danger upon return, and how the country will open. At the same time, it is necessary to protect the groups that can be affected negatively by further spread of the epidemic.
Consideration should be given to whether there will be classes that will continue to work from home for a while. Preparing for this step requires classifying all of the people living in the country into different categories related to safety and production.
Al-Ghabra added, “The most dangerous thing that would happen is that the country opens without a deliberate plan and without listening to experts”.
Sept 1 sports begin:
The Olympic Committee has proposed September 1 as the date for resumption of local sports activities, in accordance with the agreement made with the Public Authority for Sports. The proposal related to the new date was discussed during a meeting held by the Head of the Kuwait Olympic Committee Sheikh Fahad Nasser Al-Sabah with the sports federations and specialized clubs, reports Al-Qabas daily.
The meeting addressed a number of points on the agenda. The attendees negotiated on these points in a bid to reach an agreement that will be in the public interest of Kuwaiti sport. Among the items presented during the meeting was the resumption of training for some of the teams’ players in July after coordinating with Ministry of Health and the Public Authority for Sports.
Regarding the possibility of holding the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Games, the discussion led to the pitching of a new date - December 8, 2020. The federations participating in this event expressed their willingness to work on preparing the sports facilities and ensuring the technical and physical readiness of the players, which requires sufficient time. So it was suggested to start training for the participating teams in the month of July.
However, the approval of the participating countries remains the most important decision concerning whether or not the games will be held.
They also discussed about holding the ordinary general assembly of the Olympic Committee in July 2020, as well as shifting the Olympic Committee to its new temporary headquarters in Jaber Al-Ahmad Youth Center in the month of August.
The Olympic Committee affirmed its real desire for the Kuwaiti sport to exit out of the stalemate it experienced due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
Nonetheless, there is a lot to consider despite the positive step taken by Kuwait Olympic Committee in coordination with the Public Authority for Sports to ensure resumption of sports activities on September 1.
For instance, there are a number of clubs - namely Al-Nasr, Khaitan and Tadamoun - where the facilities are being used by competent authorities to confront the COVID-19 crisis. So far, no specific timeline has been set to evacuate those facilities, let alone the fact that these facilities will need a lot of maintenance work, and sterilization. Therefore, these three clubs may not manage to start their sports activities at the proposed dates.