KUWAIT: Members of the government commission tasked with observing adherence to anti-covid precautions meet yesterday. —KUNA

KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti government commission tasked with observing adherence to anti-covid precautions yesterday called for firm compliance with the measures against the virus in Kuwait.There was some slackness in applying the measures against COVID-19 over the past days, leading to mounting casualties due to infection with the contagion, said Dr Ahmad Al-Mutawaa, a commission member and director of epidemic prevention at the Ministry of Health (MoH).

This comes amid a notable increase in daily COVID-19 cases in Kuwait over the past few days, while health authorities announced yesterday detecting 12 new Omicron cases in the country. “Twelve new cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus were detected in Kuwait,” Health Ministry Spokesman Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad said, noting that the cases were detected among passengers coming from several European destinations.

Dr Sanad said in a press statement that all cases are in isolation, while all preventive and health measures and epidemiological investigation measures were taken. He stressed the need for the application of quarantine for those coming from outside the country to preserve the health and safety of the citizens and residents in Kuwait. Dr Sanad also stressed the need to postpone travel at present and limit it to cases of necessity to ensure the highest level of protection and prevention, wishing safety for all.

Tighter inspection

Mutawaa spoke to the press yesterday as he emerged from a meeting of the committee, headed by the deputy chairperson and Kuwait Municipality Director General Ahmad Al-Manfouhi. Participants in the meeting affirmed necessity that the commission-affiliated field teams carry out tighter inspection of the shopping malls, stores and various other businesses, Dr Mutawaa said. He said unvaccinated people must not be allowed to enter malls, called for putting on protective masks in closed places correctly by covering the mouth and the nose, sanitizing hands and maintaining social distancing. Dr Mutawaa re-affirmed that arriving travelers must operate the ‘shlonik’ smartphone app and quarantine themselves at home for 72 hours provided that they get a negative-result PCR to end the quarantine.

Kuwait’s Health Ministry had said on Tuesday that 92 people tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 414,270. The recoveries rose by 27 to 411,145, while death toll from the pandemic remained unchanged at 2,466, the Ministry’s Spokesman Dr Sanad said. There were five patients in ICUs as of Tuesday, while 659 others were being treated in addition to 17 patients at COVID-19 wards, he noted. Medical swabs conducted over the same period hit 19,679, raising the total to 5,758,322, Dr Sanad made clear. —KUNA