KEPS urges public to follow official COVID-19 instructions
KUWAIT: For the sake of ensuring their own and their families’ safety, Kuwait Environment Protection Society (KEPS) urged all citizens and residents to fully abide by the instructions on the need to check with official bodies, namely medical ones, in case of suffering from any infection or exposure to COVID-19. KEPS also expressed readiness to take part in any guidance, awareness or informatics role.
In this regard, KEPS chairperson and member of the regional advisory committee for limiting crises in MENA and West Asia Dr Wejdan Al-Khateeb said COVID-19 is just another disease that can easily be controlled by recognizing its origin, how it spreads and boosting public awareness concerning precautionary measures citizens and travelers around the world should follow to protect themselves and measures infected individuals should follow to prevent spreading the disease to others. “The number of infected people is now stable in Kuwait and can only spike through travelling to or returning from infected countries,” she underlined.
Khateeb said that people should know that COVID-19 is transmitted by a virus similar to those that had caused SARS and MERS in previous years, infecting the respiratory system with symptoms similar to those of common cold and flu, which can sometimes develop into severe pneumonia that might be fatal. Khateeb added that the most common means of contacting this virus are elevator buttons, door and window knobs, tables, seatbacks and shopping trolleys and surfaces, advising everybody to wear gloves and wash hands before touching the face.
MoCI hotline
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) announced receiving 163 complaints through its hotline number 135 concerning hoarding or overpriced goods. A statement MoCI issued yesterday explained that the ministry’s emergency teams had inspected 89 stores and pharmacies, filed five citations, closed a pharmacy, closed eight vegetable outlets at Sulaibiya vegetable market and six in Andalus for unjustifiably increasing onion prices by 50 percent.
Umrah for expats
As part of its charity activities and in collaboration with Al-Othman, the Awqaf secretariat general supported and funded a six-day umrah trip for 250 Muslim expats, mainly including low-paid laborers who cannot afford it yet long to visiting the holy land.