Government backs KD 1,000 for non-degreed 60s+
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KUWAIT CITY, Aug 15, (Agencies): The Council of Ministers strongly supports coming up with a humanitarian solution for the 60-year-old and above expatriates who are non-graduates to help them renew their residence permits, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting government sources. The daily quoting the same sources said KD 1,000 is expected to be approved instead of the KD 2,000 provided the 1,000 dinars proposed by the government includes what the Council of Ministers called the ‘state fee’, which is expected not to exceed 500 dinars, and the same or less value for health insurance policy that will cover the cost of all treatments in private hospitals and medical centers. The health cover is to be provided by an insurance company in Kuwait.
The sources said the solution supported by the Council of Ministers is expected to see the light of day in the next few days. The solution was voted on by the 50 percent of the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) Board of Directors. The sources indicated the proposal for 500 dinars cost of insurance policy comes due to the high insurance policies for the age groups of sixty and above, in addition to the ceiling of treatments by hospitals wishing to provide health services through this type of insurance policies. Government departments on Sunday saw resumption of official work hours at 100 employees’ capacity, a year and half after the coronavirus prompted authorities to lower number of civil servants showing up at work as a precaution against COVID-19.
Turn-up
Employees’ turn-up has been upped gradually as of recently with easing measures as indicators have shown dwindling numbers of infections and deaths with the pathogen, amid a national intensive campaign to immunize as many people as possible and forecast that Kuwait would record 70 percent of vaccinations by summer end. His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah last Thursday affirmed that by end of September, the vaccinations’ rate would hit 70 percent of the country’s population, “thus we will achieve community (herd) immunity that will enable us to resume normal life.” Up until now, 2.6 million people in Kuwait have been vaccinated, equivalent to approximately 66 percent of the population, the prime minister affirmed.
The Cabinet, on August 4, declared resumption of regular official work hours in all government departments and sectors as of Sunday (today) after Minister of Health Sheikh Dr. Bassel Humoud Al-Sabah informed the ministers that numbers of coronavirus casualties in the country have been declining along with shrinking occupancy at hospitals and intensive care wards. The Civil Service Commission has declared commitment to the cabinet decision, affirming that civil servants are no longer allowed to be absent without legal grounds. Therefore, work is back to seven hours per day, the regular schedule. Official spokesperson of the Ministry of Health (MoH) Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad has recently declared that the epidemical indexes showed decline of the number of cases as compared to the swab tests, in addition to the cases at intensive care wards, lauding relentless efforts on part of the citizens and expatriates in the combat against the contagion. Rate of the casualties’ decline was 28.3 percent, that of active cases 25.5 percent, cases at the covid wards 18.4 percent, at the intensive care units 8.4 percent and the proportion as per the tests, 2.23 percent, Dr. Al-Sanad said. Decrease of the cases coincided with mounting vaccinations as part of the national immunization campaign, covering both citizens and expatriates. The government departments resumed work during Eid Al-Fitr holidary at 60 percent of the employees. The MoH had solely maintained a 100 percent employees’ show up since eruption of the pandemic in the country, while the proportion in other public sectors did not exceed 30 percent.
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