Fighting off COVID-19

TDT | Manama

A state-of-the-art Intensive Care Unit (ICU) field hospital has been established in Sitra to ensure coronavirus (COVID-19) treatment services remain readily available to all citizens and residents of Bahrain.

This was revealed yesterday at the National Taskforce for Combatting COVID-19 press conference, held at the Crown Prince Centre for Training and Medical Research at Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) Hospital.

Speaking at the conference were Infectious Disease consultant and Microbiologist at the BDF Hospital and National Taskforce member Lt. Col. Dr Manaf Al Qahtani, Ministry of Health undersecretary Dr Walid Al Manea, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Trade Affairs undersecretary Eman Al Doseri, and Infectious and Internal Diseases consultant at Salmaniya Medical Complex Dr Jameela Al Salman.

Dr Al Qahtani emphasised the Kingdom’s commitment to keeping abreast of international COVID-19 developments, adding that the Sitra ICU field hospital was built and prepared in a record time of 14 days.

It is fully equipped with a capacity of 152 beds, 152 respirators, is staffed by a specialised medical team of 55 doctors and 250 nurses, and includes an onsite medical laboratory, X-ray machines, mobile dialysis units, and an integrated store of medical equipment and drugs.

In addition to this, Dr Al Qahtani noted that the Crown Prince Centre for Training and Medical Research has trained more than 1,500 doctors, nurses and medical assistants.

This training included various intensive practical workshops, the latest guidelines for fighting and treating COVID-19, dealing with existing active COVID-19 cases and how to manage the latest respirators, as well as training in the field of respiratory therapy and dealing with existing critical cases.

Dr Al Qahtani also revealed that not more than 57 medical professionals have been infected with COVID-19 while performing their duties. He said that all are stable as they were identified at an early stage.

Dr Al Qahtani reassured that all medical professionals on the front-line of the COVID-19 fight are to be tested weekly. On his part, Dr Al Manea reiterated the commitment of the Health Ministry and various authorities to combat the spread of COVID-19 and commended the awareness demonstrated by the Kingdom’s community by following all health guidelines during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Dr Al Manea highlighted that the Ministry is monitoring local COVID-19 developments with a number of standardised global indicators, including the basic reproductive number (R0), which is the average number of secondary infections arising from a single active COVID-19 case.
The R0 in Bahrain has stood at 1.14 for the past 14 days, which he described as good, adding that the goal is to get the R0 below 1.00. Al Doseri highlighted the Ministry’s commitment to further strengthening precautionary measures across the commercial sector and noted the importance of enterprises vigilantly following the precautionary measures and social distancing guidelines intended to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and safeguarding the community.

On this note, Al Doseri further highlighted that Industry Ministry will intensify its inspections across all commercial enterprises as many open today and tomorrow, and urged all citizens and residents to inform authorities if there are any violations.

Meanwhile, Dr Al Salman highlighted the importance of following all health and social distancing guidelines during the Holy Month of Ramadan, and to continue washing hands regularly using water and soap, using alcohol-based hand sanitizers, frequently disinfecting surfaces and objects that are used regularly, covering the mouth when coughing, immediately disposing of used napkins and tissues, and avoiding direct contact with anyone with a fever or a cough.

Dr Al Salman concluded the press conference by noting that individuals experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should contact the 444 hotline number and follow the guidelines provided, adding that wearing a mask is pivotal to ensuring citizens and residents remain safeguarded from the virus.