KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah (center) chairs the Cabinet's meeting. - KUNA photos

KUWAIT: Health Minister Sheikh Dr Basel Al-Sabah lamented the steady rise in the number of coronavirus infections and fatalities in Kuwait. In a presentation made during the Cabinet's weekly meeting on Monday, Sheikh Dr Basel noted that the number of hospitalizations and intensive care units occupants is also increasing despite the imposed partial lockdown. The Cabinet urged citizens and residents to adhere to social distancing rules, health instructions and other precautionary measures to curb the spread of coronavirus and maintain the safety of all.

It also called on the public to register for taking the coronavirus vaccine to be immunized against the virus. Kuwait had registered 1,330 new cases of COVID-19 and seven deaths on Monday, bringing the total numbers of infections and deaths to 220,455 and 1,233 respectively. Meanwhile, the number of people receiving treatment in intensive care stood at 246 cases as of Monday, while there were 14,244 patients receiving necessary treatment.

Cabinet ministers attend the meeting.

Nevertheless, the Cabinet had decided to relax the nationwide curfew and to exempt vaccinated arrivals and Kuwaiti students from compulsory hotel quarantine as of yesterday. The Cabinet has changed the time of the curfew to start from 06:00 pm and to end at 05:00 am, said Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Dr Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohamad Al-Sabah in a statement following the meeting, chaired by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. The Cabinet allowed restaurants and cafes to offer home-delivery services during curfew time from 06:00 pm to 10:00 pm also from yesterday.

It also permitted the public to practice outdoor exercises and walk in their residential areas from 06:00 pm to 08:00 pm provided that they wear masks and abide by social distancing rules. The Cabinet also exempted arrivals, who were inoculated by one of the vaccines approved in Kuwait, and students, who are Kuwaitis, bedoons or children of Kuwait mothers, from the compulsory institutional quarantine. It formed a higher ministerial committee to study the required measures to pave the way for the reopening and students returning to schools.

In the meantime, the Cabinet approved draft laws on Kuwait's joining the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks; prevention of conflict of interests and amending some provisions of the penal code. It endorsed draft decrees on the approving the convention of the charter of the Islamic Civil Aviation Council, a memo of understanding for cooperation between the Kuwaiti and Canadian defense ministries, memo of understanding for legal and judicial cooperation with the Jordanian Kingdom, a memo on postal cooperation with Morocco and a memo for cultural and artistic cooperation with Djibouti.

The Cabinet referred the approved draft laws and draft decrees to His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to refer it to the National Assembly. The Cabinet was also briefed about the recommendations of the economic committee with regard to the fifth periodical report of the national anti-money laundering and combatting terrorism finance committee and urged the committee to intensify its efforts in this regard. - KUNA