Kuwait and Oman tighten controls at borders to curb virus

Kuwait closed its land and sea borders until March 20, while Oman barred entry to people from 10 countries as coronavirus cases in parts of the Gulf continued to rise.

Citizens of Kuwait and domestic workers accompanying them are allowed to return through land and seaports, as are citizens’ first-degree relatives, the Cabinet said.

The country registered 899 new cases and five more deaths on Monday, the latest figures, with 149 serious cases admitted to ICU.

The border closure will be accompanied by other measures, including banning seated dining in restaurants and reducing the number of people allowed on public transport and in government workplaces to 30 per cent. Private workplaces are restricted to 50 per cent capacity.

To ensure quarantine is correctly carried out and to keep track of arrivals, a committee has been created, led by the Ministry of Interior and made up of one member from every ministry.

Oman announced its restrictions on entry to people from 10 nations would last for 15 days to curb the spread of the virus and in particular certain mutated strains, the sultanate’s coronavirus committee said yesterday.

The countries on the list are: Sudan, Lebanon, South Africa, Brazil, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia. The decision takes effect from tomorrow.

The committee urged citizens and residents to avoid travelling except for urgent reasons.

Oman introduced a seven-day hotel quarantine requirement for all arrivals on February 15 to control the spread of infection.

The second phase of vaccinations began this month after the arrival of 100,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, made under licence by the Serum Institute of India.

The sultanate’s first vaccination campaign using the Pfizer-BioNTech drug began on December 7 and reached 30,000 people.