Shuttered shops, vacant malls, empty streets and people walking around with face masks, are some of the most visible signs of coronavirus infection in many cities around the world. Kuwait has thankfully not displayed that level of panicky response. Yes, there has been a drop in the number of people visiting public places and restaurants, as well as in the traffic on roads, but the response has generally been muted.
The government, which is usually accused of always reacting to situations, has, for once, taken several proactive measures to curtail the spread of coronavirus infection in Kuwait. On Wednesday, during an extraordinary meeting chaired by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, the Cabinet decided on a slew of measures to curtail the spread of coronavirus in the country. Some of these steps include the postponement of the opening of all government and private schools, as well as colleges and other educational institutions, from 1 March to 14 March.
The Cabinet also tasked the Kuwait Supply Company with supplying local markets with sufficient quantities of face-masks to be used by citizens and expats to curb infection. Also, the Social Affairs Ministry, in coordination with the Union of Consumer Cooperative Societies, is to make available all sterilization products in all cooperative societies.
Kuwait has also requested the WHO to send a specialized global medical team as soon as possible to review and assess measures taken by the state bodies to control the new coronavirus and offer their advice and recommendations. In addition, the Cabinet urged all citizens and expats to avoid gatherings, which may help spread infection and the epidemic, and to engage in constructive cooperation with the authorities. The government also called on people to follow all measures aimed at ensuring their safety and protection from the disease, and to ignore rumors and false information being circulated through various social media platforms.
For its part, the Ministry of Health is providing daily updates on the virus and explain the health procedures being initiated by the ministry. Speaking to the media on Friday, the Assistant Under-Secretary at the Health Ministry Dr. Buthaina Al-Mudhaf said that the number of coronavirus cases (COVID-19) in Kuwait had risen to 45 cases after two new cases were discovered overnight.
On Monday, the MInistry of Health reported the first three cases of coronavirus infections in the country. The ministry said that preliminary tests conducted on passengers coming from the Iranian city of Mashhad resulted in the discovery of three confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Kuwait. In a statement the MoH revealed that the first case was a 53-year-old Kuwaiti citizen, the second, a 61-year-old Saudi citizen, and the third, a 21-year-old Kuwaiti youth.
She pointed out that the increase in numbers came after more than 1,675 swabs tests were taken from individuals returning from infected areas abroad. Dr. Al-Mudhaf added that citizens who returned from Italy on flights organized by the government were quarantined and tested yesterday, but happily the results had returned negative. Meanwhile, the 22 Kuwaitis who returned from Iran via Qatar were also quarantined and tested, andt they too were not found infected, so far.
Explaining the health procedures and awareness efforts of the government, Dr. Al-Mudhaf said that citizens arriving from infected areas were being quarantined in hospitals, in line with treatment protocols stipulated by WHO. She affirmed that all those infected were in good health and recovering, and that the government is continuing to follow up on all developments connected with the coronavirus to stay better-informed and be more prepared for any eventuality arising from the virus.
In a television interview late Wednesday, Minister of Health Dr. Basel Al-Sabah also reiterated that the ministry was taking all necessary and precautionary measures to counter COVID-19 and inform the public on a regular basis on the development locally and internationally. He urged people to follow official news sources with regard to the disease, and not to panic from reading exaggerated news items on social media platforms. Dr. Sheikh Basil Al-Sabah also attempted to calm public fears about casualties and stressed that the mortality rate from COVID-19 was relatively low and recovery was as high as 98 percent. He pointed out that most of those succumbing to the infection were the elderly, very small children or those whose immune systems were compromised.
In a follow-up to the country’s efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 and ensure safety of citizens, Kuwait Cabinet on Thursday urged citizens not to travel abroad unless it was necessary. In a statement, Deputy Prime Minister, Interior Minister, and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh affirmed that such calls for not traveling abroad came to ensure citizens safety and prevent them from being subjected to coronavirus countermeasures implemented by other nations.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked nationals who are currently abroad to return home. The Ministry said the call was intended to spare citizens from the hazards of infection of coronavirus and relieve them of rapid and changing precautions for entry and departure for travelers, undertaken by states as precautions against the virus. Kuwait’s Directorate-General for Civil Aviation has also banned flights from various countries reported to be infected with COVID-19, including Singapore, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, South Korea, Thailand, and Italy.
For its part, the Ministry of Health has warned that passengers leaving Kuwait via airports or land outlets will have to undertake to comply with the safety rules set forth by the ministries of health and interior upon their return. The regulations include remaining in a 14-day quarantine if need be, and cooperation with the competent authorities in order to curb the spread of the virus and protect the public health in Kuwait. Failure to comply with these obligations could entail the passenger facing legal measures, said the ministry.
In a further move to contain the spread of coronavirus, the Ministry of Interior has announced that passports should be presented to authorities for citizens and GCC nationals traveling to or from neighboring GCC states instead of their national IDs. This precaution is to ensure that authorities can verify their recent travel itinerary and possible visits to countries hit by the coronavirus. However, this decision is not applicable to Kuwaiti citizens already in a GCC country who have used their IDs in their exit, and GCC citizens’ currently visiting Kuwait who have used their IDs to enter.
In support of the government’s initiatives to curb the spread of coronavirus infection in the country, the Catholic Church has decided to suspend its services for two weeks. In a letter to parishioners, on behalf of the Vicar General of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia, Parish of The Holy Family Cathedral, Rev. Fr. Peter P. Mathew OFM Cap, the Vicariate announced that it had received a directive from the Kuwait government and the Ministry of Health, to avoid any public gatherings for a period of two weeks, starting from 1 to 14 March.
The letter added that in response to this precautionary guideline, the clergy and parish council members held an emergency meeting on 28 February and decided that all Churches will be closed from 1 to 14 March. As a result of the closure, all Masses, Retreats, prayer meetings, seminars and any other services, as well as Catechism classes for this period will remain cancelled. The missive noted that at the end of the two-week period, the Vicariate would await further guidelines and directives from the authorities and communicate further information or action to the parishioners,
Citizens and residents in Kuwait seem to be heeding instructions from the authorities to avoid congregations and postpone celebratory gatherings. In line with the government’s move to cancel all public gatherings, celebrations to mark the recent national holidays were a relatively low-key affair. The ministry of health in coordination with other relevant entities have also intensified health scans at the airport and other entry points, to identify and effectively quarantine those showing signs of infection. Response of the public to all these preventive steps have in the large part been cooperative and supportive of the government’s actions.
Meanwhile, Kuwait has come forward to join hands with WHO in the fight COVID-19. Kuwait and WHO are expected to significantly increase cooperation following the opening of a regional office of WHO in Kuwait, said Ambassador Jamal Al-Ghunaim, Kuwait top diplomat to the United Nations in Geneva. Ambassador Al-Ghunaim was speaking after meeting with the Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Program, Dr. Michael Ryan, with whom he discussed diverting part of Kuwait’s annual donation to the WHO of $1 million to help fight COVID-19 infections around the world.
Ambassador Al-Ghunaim added that Kuwait fully supported WHO’s endeavors to fight coronavirus and that Kuwait’s delegation to the UN in Geneva was in contact with WHO on a daily basis to get latest updates about COVID-19 and convey them to the health authorities in Kuwait. Measures taken so far by the authorities in Kuwait appear to mirror the recommendations given by the World Health Organization (WHO), which has called for coherent and calculated responses to the COVID-19 infection.
Despite fear mongering on social media platforms and blaring media headlines of infection and mortality figures, and the increasing number of countries being infected, the WHO has remained circumspect and refused to panic and term the contagion a pandemic. Instead, the global health entity has maintained its earlier classification of COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), which it made at the end of January. This definition implies a situation that is serious, unusual or unexpected; carries implications for public health beyond the affected State’s national border; and may require immediate international action.
In a media briefing on 27 February, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus referred to the infection as an “uncontained global spread”, but he declined to call the outbreak a pandemic. “We are actually in a very delicate situation in which the outbreak can go in any direction based on how we handle it. But this is not a time for fear. This is a time for taking action now to prevent infection and save lives now,” said Dr. Ghebreyesus. He added, “Fear and panic doesn’t help. People can have concerns and rightly so. People can be worried and rightly so. The most important thing is to calm down and do the right things to fight this very dangerous virus.
The Times Report