Oman closes its borders because of Covid-19 surge

Oman will close its land borders for a week from this evening because coronavirus cases are rapidly increasing, the state news agency said yesterday.

The new measures take effect at 6pm and could be extended.

Britain reported its lowest number of daily new coronavirus infections since the start of the year on Saturday, adding to signs that a national lockdown is slowing the spread of a more infectious variant of the disease.

Lockdown restrictions could be eased in March and all adults should have received their first dose of a vaccine by September, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said yesterday.

National Health Service chief Simon Stevens said a Covid-19 patient is being admitted to hospital every 30 seconds.

The UAE reported a record number of coronavirus cases for a sixth consecutive day yesterday, with 3,453 new infections. Five patients died.

The authorities also lowered the minimum age to receive a vaccine from 18 to 16.

Oman will close its land borders today for a week because coronavirus cases are rapidly increasing, the country’s state news agency said yesterday.

The measures are set to take effect at 6pm and could be extended beyond the initial period announced.

The decision was made by Oman’s coronavirus emergency committee. “A large number of citizens and residents observe that the public are not adhering to health measures set by the state,” the country’s Supreme Committee said.

“For example, by not wearing masks and holding gatherings with large numbers of people for social events, which has caused the spread of the virus.”

The authorities are concerned about the spreading of a new variant of the coronavirus that was identified in the UK.

The first case of the variant to be recorded in Oman was detected earlier this month, in a resident who returned to the country from Britain.

Oman has recorded 131,790 cases, including 1,512 deaths, since the pandemic started.

Of those infected, 124,067 have recovered.

The country has started an immunisation campaign using the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for its population of about five million.

The campaign gives priority to healthcare workers who are on the front lines, people over 65 years of age and those with chronic diseases that make them more vulnerable to Covid-19.

Oman has received about 38,900 doses, Health Minister Ahmed Al Saidi said as he received his second shot on Sunday.

So far, 24,204 people have received their first dose. The administration of the second doses began yesterday, the health ministry said.

Oman approved the vaccine on December 18, 2020.

The authorities nevertheless imposed health measures such as social distancing and compulsory face masks.

Hefty fines are issued for those breaking the rules.