KUWAIT: Minister of Health Dr Sheikh Basel Al-Sabah submitted a report during a Cabinet meeting on the latest developments of coronavirus, amid the spread of the epidemic and the rising number the deaths and the cases infected with the disease. He also offered statistics on the countries in which the disease is spreading, saying that the cases infected with the disease hit a four-fold rate during the last two weeks.

The minister stressed that Kuwait is free of the coronavirus until now, thanks to Allah Almighty. During its weekly meeting on Monday chaired by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, the Cabinet lauded the efforts made by the ministry and all concerned bodies, affirming the follow-up on the implementation of the emergency plan to prevent the virus from entering the country. The ministry also is following up implementing the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations on keeping people away from gatherings and limiting the congregations.

As a result, the Cabinet instructed the Foreign Ministry to inform all of the country's diplomatic missions abroad to delay the celebrations of the National Days this year. Concerning the local preventive measures, the Cabinet directed the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to ban exporting the preventive and medical substances relating to combating the virus.

The Cabinet directed the Civil Service Commission to set regulations to curb the travel of employees on official missions, except for necessity. It stressed the importance of avoiding any gatherings by both citizens and residents, mainly during the National Days' celebrations to avoid all risks arising from the spread of this disease and preserve the safety of citizens and residents.

Traffic law
The Cabinet discussed the recommendations by the legal affairs committee on a draft resolution on amending some provisions of the Law No 74/1983 on combating drugs and a bill on amending some provisions of the decree No 67/1976 on traffic, which aims to amend most penalties mentioned in Chapter 5.

And within the framework of the Cabinet's follow-up on the implementation of the government action program, the Cabinet was briefed on the reports by some government agencies and decided to refer all reports to the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development for study and then send a report to the General Secretariat of the Cabinet on what has been accomplished within two weeks to refer it to the Cabinet.

In addition, the Cabinet was informed about the recommendations of the economic affairs committee on the semi-annual report on the activities of the Supreme Council of Privatization (January 2020) which includes the most important activities and achievements over the last six months. Furthermore, the Cabinet was apprised of the recommendations of the minutes of the joint meeting of the Economic Affairs and Public Services Committees concerning a report on the results of the committee of studying contracting procedures at government agencies.

The Cabinet took a decision to assign the Central Agency for Public Tenders, in coordination with all relevant government agencies, to follow up on procedures and decisions should be taken by these bodies to carry out the commendations and results made by the committee, and provide the Cabinet with results within two months as of Monday. - KUNA