KUWAIT: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced yesterday that medical face masks will be available for distribution at the supplies storage centers throughout the country. The measure is in line with instructions by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. Minister of Commerce and Industry Khaled Al-Roudhan held meetings with representatives of government departments for coordination on the masks' distribution. The ministry said in a statement that the conferees had worked out a plan for the masks' distribution, with deployment of volunteers by the Public Authority for Youth.

The meeting involved the commerce undersecretary Abdullah Al-Afasi, the social affairs undersecretary Abdulaziz Al-Shuaib, the assistant undersecretary for medicines and food supervision Abdullah Al-Bader, the assistant undersecretary for administrative and financial affairs at the Civil Service Commission Bader Al-Hamad, Chairman of the Kuwaiti supplies company Salah Al-Klaib and representatives of the ministry of interior and defense.

Sterilizing products
Earlier yesterday, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) and representatives of sterilizing products factories met to discuss measures to provide goods used in countering the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). In a press release, the ministry affirmed that it was paramount to tackle the latest challenges caused by the coronavirus, saying that any product, which could reduce chances of contracting COVID-19, should be readily available to the masses as part of the measures to counter the disease. Participants in the meeting stressed that it was a national priority and duty for all to get involved in the efforts to halt the spread of coronavirus, the statement indicated.

Boursa trading
In the meantime, Kuwaiti bourse company announced that trading at the stock market would resume today as regular. However, the main trading hall will be shut and visitors' seats at external hallways will be removed as a measure to limit peoples' gathering. Traders will be allowed to be present at the brokerage bureaus to process transactions. All necessary hygiene and sanitation precautions are in place at the bourse building.

Inspecting ships
In another development, Kuwaiti Ports Authority said Friday that a medical team is accompanying their crews and boarding ships arriving in the country in order to examine its crews, and to ensure that they are free of the emerging coronavirus, known as (COVID-19). The Authority's spokesperson Nasser Al-Shulaimi said in a press statement that instructions had been issued in coordination with the Ministry of Health to inspect ships that will be stopped in a designated area, and their crews would make their inspection before being authorized to dock on Kuwaiti docks.

Shulaimi added that instructions were issued to keep crews inside ships as another "precautionary measure" to prevent transmission of the virus. The spokesperson noted that the authority's highest management is monitoring the situation closely. - KUNA