Bahrain’s testing per capita reflects COVID-19 testing success

Dr. Al Manea explained that the benchmark used to identify how adequately a country is testing is determined by measuring testing per capita. He added that the World Health Organisation (WHO) benchmark is to record at least 10 negative cases for every positive confirmed case, adding that if the percentage is lower than nine percent then this reflects adequate testing efforts by a country.

Dr. Al Manea confirmed that Bahrain has been able to reach a rate of two percent, which reflects the Kingdom’s tireless efforts to accurately track and mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Dr. Al Manea highlighted that the Health Ministry has announced the referral of citizens from quarantine centers to home self-isolation for two weeks, in accordance with regulations stipulated by the Minister of Health.

He said that the citizens transferred to home self-isolation are returnees from abroad and contacts of active cases. In addition to this, patients who have recovered from COVID-19 are obliged to self-isolate at home for another period of four weeks and are tested regularly to ensure they have completely recovered from the virus.

He went on to highlight the Kingdom’s current testing, quarantine, isolation, and treatment capacity. He noted that the public isolation and treatment center capacity is 2,473 beds, of which 1,506 are occupied; the private isolation and treatment center capacity is 136 beds, of which 50 are occupied. The public quarantine center capacity stands at 1,673 beds, of which 902 are occupied; whereas the private quarantine capacity is 801 beds, of which 20 are occupied.