KUWAIT: Members of the Chinese medical team meet with Kuwaiti officials. - KUNA

KUWAIT: Head of a visiting Chinese medical team has praised Kuwait's response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, voicing his confidence in the Gulf State's defeat the virus. "We believe that Kuwait will achieve very good results in fighting against coronavirus," Ruan Yuesheng, head of a Chinese expert team visiting Kuwait to help address the pandemic, said Saturday in statements the Chinese official news agency Xinhua.

The eight-member team, which arrived in Kuwait last week, comprises experts specialized in areas including virus testing, infectious disease, respiratory disease, intensive care, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The Chinese experts have held several meetings with officials of Kuwait's Ministry of Health and experts from Kuwaiti's medical sectors to share experiences in prevention and control, testing, treatment and quarantine.

"In the past days, we have visited the Ministry of Health and some medical institutions, and exchanged in-depth experiences with Kuwaiti experts in public health," said Ruan. The team has also visited field medical sites related to combating the coronavirus, including epidemic testing center. "We have seen that the Kuwaiti government attaches great importance to the measures for preventing and controlling the pandemic while preparing properly for testing, treatment, quarantine management and medical protection supplies," Ruan stressed.

He noted that the team has also brought some suggestions to the Kuwaiti side. Ruan pointed out Kuwaiti experts have shown great interest in China's anti-epidemic experiences. He added that his team can also learn from good practices by the Kuwaiti side, "for example the management of people who returned from abroad, and the establishment of temporary testing centers … such practices are very innovative and creative and worth learning from." - KUNA