By B Izzak

KUWAIT: Health Ministry Spokesman Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad said all indicators related to the coronavirus pandemic in Kuwait dropped substantially this week compared to last week. He said the number of new coronavirus cases has dropped by a significant 28.3 percent, the number of active cases have declined by 25.5 percent, the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals slid by 18.4 percent and the number of patients in intensive care units was 8.4 percent lower.

The infection rate compared to the number of PCR tests also shrunk by 2.23 percent this week compared to last week, and yesterday registered 6.8 percent, which is still high by international standards. The rate should be below 5 percent. The ministry of health yesterday reported 851 new cases, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases detected by Kuwait since the outbreak of the pandemic to over 400,000 cases.

The ministry said the number of patients in hospitals dropped to only 814, and those in intensive care units went down to 267 patients, while the number of active cases declined to 9,748. Last week, the government decided to end all closures in the country except gatherings and weddings and lifted all restrictions on commercial activities.

Citing informed sources at the Cabinet, Al-Jarida Arabic daily reported yesterday that cafes can offer shisha after a ban that lasted almost 17 months. The newspaper also quoted Health Minister Sheikh Dr Basel Al-Sabah as saying that expats who have been fully vaccinated in Kuwait can leave for high-risk countries and return to Kuwait easily.

Expats who have been vaccinated outside Kuwait must upload the electronic vaccination certificate to the health ministry website and the certificates will be verified within five working days. A green color will appear on the Immune application and these expats can return to the country, the minister added.

Meanwhile, MP Ahmad Al-Azemi yesterday criticized the health minister for “failing” in the vaccination campaign, claiming the minister could not convince all people to take the vaccine, and is now trying to impose it on them, committing a violation of the constitution.