MANAMA: Mahmood Rafique, Editor: The reckless attitude towards health guidelines aims at mitigating the spread of the COVID-19 infections will be met with stiff legal actions.
There will be a zero tolerance towards non-compliance of the Ministry of Health mandates including wearing the face masks; observe social distancing and avoid parties or big gatherings till 14 October, warns Dr. Walid Al-Manea, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health.
Addressing the Press conference of National Taskforce for Combating Coronavirus (COVID-19), Dr. Al-Manea said that the first two weeks of precautionary measure have helped to bring the number of active cases down and urged citizens and residents to stick to the guidelines till October 14, to further bend the curve and mitigate the spread of the infections across the Kingdom.
Dr. Walid Al-Manea, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health was also joined by Lt. Col. Dr. Manaf Al Qahtani-Member of the National Taskforce for Combating Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Dr. Jameela Al Salman-Consultant of Infectious and Internal Diseases at Salmaniya Medical Complex during the remote media briefing held on Wednesday.
There are number legal measures that will be taken with those who violate the instructions issued by the National Medical Team and other authorities, he adds.
Referring to the number of cases with spike in number of active cases starting from March Bahrain recorded 126 active cases and due to Eidul Fitr and non-compliance of the guidelines the number of cases reached 3356 in May and jumped to 5272 in June.
The control of the spread of virus by abiding by all guidelines and precautionary measures as a national duty will only help to combat this pandemic.
The reached 93.4 per cent showing the resilience of the health sector of the Kingdom of Bahrain and death rate remains at 0.36 per cent.
The total capacity of the isolation and treatment centers recorded an occupancy of 14.9 per cent or 1137 beds out of total 7642 beds total available capacity across the Kingdom.
In terms of the first two weeks (that ends with the start of October) the number of new cases have been showing a decrease and the next two weeks till October 14 are crucial to keep this target achievable and it is the responsibility of citizens, residents and each individual to help to mitigate the spread of the virus and everyone should observe the social distancing; avoid gatherings and continue wearing masks in all public places.
The health and safety of everyone is a priority of the Government and that cannot be compromised at any cost, he says.
The Kingdom of Bahrain has a comprehensive testing plan for the COVID-19 as testing serves a major pillar for the Kingdom’s national strategy to control the spread of the virus, says Dr Waleed.
The number of tests across the Kingdom are among the highest of any country in per capita ration and this national plan to progressing with multipronged strategy namely, contact tracing, random testing and by calling 444 in addition to the private hospitals testing facilities.
There are total 4608 active cases as of Tuesday among them 4537 stable and 71 patients were in a critical stage. Active cases receiving treatment were 103 and the total number of discharged patients reached 68606 and the death toll reached 262,” says Dr. Jameela Al Salman-Consultant of Infectious and Internal Diseases at Salmaniya Medical Complex.
Social distancing, avoid social gatherings should remain there and when you are interacting with other people do follow the guidelines to keep the interest of the nation ahead and be part of the Team Bahrain, she adds.
Dr Manaf Al Qahtani, applauded the role of the frontline workers over the past nine months in a national efforts to control the spread of the virus across the Kingdom.
Hope, patience and collaboration, will be proved vital tools for successfully combating this virus. Everyone needs to observe the guidelines achieve the desired results of this national plan, he adds.
Talking about the clinical trials, Dr Qahtani says Bahrain’s first ever experience of vaccine trails have yielded encouraging and positive results.
Bahrain’s volunteers for the vaccine trails reach 7600 volunteers and 100 more to go and there will be a follow up for 12 months, Dr. Qahtani reveals.
