Tests 222,542 and counting

TDT | Manama

Bahrain’s health ministry yesterday announced detecting 384 new active Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, with the majority of them being expatriate workers. Out of the 384 new cases, 288 are expatriate workers, while 84 are direct contacts of active cases.

Twelve of the cases are travel-related, the ministry said on its twitter handle. The new cases also bring the total number of COVID-19 cases in the Kingdom to 6,582, which forms 2.91 per cent of the total COVID-19 tests conducted here.

The ministry also reported that 287 patients have fully recovered from the virus symptoms increasing the total number of recoveries to 2,640, which is around 40.10pc of the total infections confirmed by the authorities.

Going forward, the Health Ministry assured it would continue to enhance its testing capacity. “To ensure the safety of all, the Ministry of Health continues to increase its testing capacity, carrying out 9685 #COVID19 tests within the past 24 hours,” the statement added. 

As of yesterday, according to the ministry’s official webpage, the government tested 222,542 people in the Kingdom for COVID-19 symptoms. There are now 3,932 active COVID-19 infection cases in the Kingdom, of which 3,928 patients are stable.

Four people are in critical condition. Despite the rising number of cases, the Kingdom’s death toll has remained relatively low. A total of 10 people died fighting the infection. The rising number of cases in the Kingdom is mostly due to the higher number of tests conducted.

The number of cases, however, is less compared to most of the GCC member states. Bahrain shuttered non-essential shops and businesses in late March and barred entry of foreign visitors, but did not impose a curfew, unlike some other Gulf states.

Abdulla bin Faisal bin Jabur Al Doseri, the Foreign Affairs Assistant Minister, has said that the country is taking care “not to impose any unnecessary and disproportionate restrictions” in the Kingdom and is “motivating citizens and residents to stay at their homes.”

However, Health Ministry officials have made clear that employees and customers must wear face masks and practice physical distancing while in the Kingdom. Google mobility trend for places like restaurants, cafes, shopping centres, theme parks, museums, libraries, and movie theatres in the Kingdom shows a 38pc decline compared to the baseline.

The baseline value is the median value for the corresponding day of the week, during the 5 weeks from Jan 3 to Feb 6, 2020. The latest data released is on May 9, 2020. Mobility trends for places like grocery markets, food warehouses, farmers markets, speciality food shops, drug stores, and pharmacies showed a 16pc decline.

Mobility trends for places of workplaces and residential areas report a 16pc decline. Bahrain has also opened a 152-bed COVID-19 field hospital intensive care unit on an empty piece of land in Sitra, as part of a plan to create 500 additional ICU beds for critical cases. The total count in the six Gulf Arab states exceeds 124,335 with 641 deaths.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia recorded its first COVID-19 infection on March 2, several weeks after the initial outbreak in Asia. The number of new infections in the kingdom continues to hover around 2000 per day.

Saudi Arabia has recorded 49,176 cases in total with 292 deaths so far. However, the kingdom’s death toll has remained relatively low and has increased by 9 yesterday to 292.

UAE

In UAE, another +747 people tested positive yesterday to the virus bringing the total cases to 21,831. The country also confirmed two more death, increasing the total death toll to 210. The total number of recovered patients stands at 7,328. 

Kuwait

Kuwait reported a big jump of 885 new cases yesterday, raising the total number of infected people in the country to 12,869. With eight new deaths yesterday, Kuwait’s total toll rose to 96.  There are 190 patients in intensive care units, including 100 in critical condition. Kuwait so far has conducted over 236,000 coronavirus tests. 

Oman

Oman yesterday reported 284 new cases, bringing total cases there to 4,625 which is also the lowest among member states in the GCC. The Sultanate confirmed one more death yesterday, taking the country’s death toll to 19. A total of 1,350 people have recovered from coronavirus in the country