Tareq Al-Mazrem

By B Izzak

KUWAIT: The Cabinet yesterday decided to impose a two-week ban on the entry of foreigners into the country from Feb 7 as health authorities battle a substantial rise in the number of coronavirus cases, government spokesman Tareq Al-Mazrem said. The decision exempts close relatives of Kuwaiti citizens and domestic workers.

During an extraordinary meeting, the Cabinet decided commercial shops and restaurants including malls will close from 8 pm to 5 am, but allowed delivery services to continue. Pharmacies and food stores are exempt from the ban, Mazrem said. The Cabinet ordered the total closure of health clubs, salons, barbershops, celebration halls and tents and banned all types of gatherings including national holiday celebrations later this month.

The closure and limiting of commercial activities will commence from Feb 7 for a period of one month, which can be renewed if the situation does not improve, Mazrem said. The Cabinet also decided to re-introduce institutional quarantine for a week for people returning from abroad. The quarantine will be at local hotels at the expense of returnees, who will undergo another seven days of home quarantine, he said.

The new tough measures come after a jump in the number of new coronavirus cases and after the discovery that some passengers carried fake negative PCR test certificates. Mazrem warned that if people do not cooperate and comply with health precautions like wearing facemasks and observing social distancing, the government will consider "additional" measures. He said authorities will take legal measures against those who arrive with fake PCR certificates.

The civil aviation department has indefinitely extended precautionary measures that limit the number of passengers per flight to just 35, after the measure was due to end on Feb 6. Health Minister Sheikh Basel Al-Sabah called on the public to comply with precautionary health measures and not to leave home unless it is necessary. The number of new coronavirus cases more than doubled in January over the previous month, according to the health ministry.

Health ministry figures compiled by Kuwait Times show that as many as 14,952 new cases were reported in the past four weeks compared to just 7,234 cases in the previous four weeks, a jump of over 100 percent. In the past week from yesterday, the number of cases increased by 26 percent to 4,548 cases, from 3,598 cases in the previous week.

Meanwhile, the ministry of foreign affairs yesterday advised citizens against overseas travel except when "absolutely necessary" because of the new variants of coronavirus spreading worldwide. The ministry said those who are forced to travel for emergency reasons should have health insurance that covers all diseases including COVID-19 throughout the duration of travel.

MP Yousef Al-Fadhalah called on the health authorities to take all necessary measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, especially by those who arrive from abroad with fake PCR test results. He also called for increasing the number of vaccinations in the country by increasing the number of centers and giving priority to elderly people.