publish time

03/11/2020

author name Arab Times

publish time

03/11/2020

 KUWAIT CITY, Nov 3: During recent  meeting  the cabinet reviewed the plans presented by Minister of Health Dr. Basel Al Sabah that if there has been increase in infection cases between 6 to 10 weeks, the minister recommended implementation of partial curfew from 9 pm to 4 am for period of two weeks with suspension of commercial flights from and to Kuwait. In addition to shutting down malls to prevent gatherings and closing restaurants for dining, only allowing home delivery of food.

He stated from 26th Jun 2020 the cases are in high numbers which coincided with lifting of total ban and easing of precautionary measures. There has been a decrease in 40% of infection during the total ban period which was a positive sign.

Implementation of strict precautionary health measures in South Korea led to absence of a second pandemic wave.  The Minister of Health presented a series of recommendations to the Council of Ministers, including immediate recommendations that included reducing working hours in commercial activities from 10 am to 8 pm, and others that would be applied after 6 to 10 weeks if the infection continued to increase, including the partial curfew and the suspension of commercial flights to and from Kuwait.


Wearing a mask by covering your face and nose have reduced infection spread. 90% of infection is caused by spread of droplets, reports Al Qabas. A study was conducted and it was found that 198 countries in the world showed that the countries that recommended the use of masks after the appearance of the first case had lower mortality rates.

Recommendations if the infection cases increase after 6 to 10 weeks:

1- Imposing a partial curfew from 9 pm to 4 am for a period of two weeks.
2- Area wise lockdown returns if a large number of infections are detected in those areas.
3- Suspending commercial aviation to and from the State of Kuwait.
4- Close malls and Health Clubs or any activity in which gathering of humans takes place for a period of two weeks.
5- Preventing eating in restaurants and only allowing take-a-way orders and delivery service.

Immediate recommendations 
1 - Activities that involve human gatherings:
 • Reducing working hours in commercial areas from 10 am to 8 pm with a commitment to apply the time system for to avoid crowding.
• Imposing appointments in restaurants and setting working hours until 9 pm.
• Instructing health clubs to adhere to the application of the admission by appointment system.
• Close shops and commercial activities that do not comply with the application of the precautionary measures for a period of three days, severe penalty if non-compliance is repeated and continued.
• Emphasis on sports clubs by preventing fans from attending during sports matches.
• Not allowing to operate spring camps.

2 - Recommendations for government and private workplaces:
• Emphasis on governmental and private work agencies to form teams to follow up compliance with health requirements and to take administrative penalties in case of breaching them.

3 - Laws and Legislation's:
• Enacting a law to impose immediate fines for not wearing a face mask, as well as immediate financial fines for gatherings.
• Encourage working remotly.

Protection of high-risk groups:
• Prevention of influenza infection among high-risk groups (the winter vaccination campaign), as it has been proven that the death rate due to infection with Covid-19 infection associated with influenza is twice the rate of death from infection with Covid-19 alone.

5 - Media:
• Allocating a special budget for media campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of spacing, wearing masks, and vaccination against winter diseases and Covid-19 disease.
• Using the media to announce the activities that have been closed as a precautionary measures.
• Using the media to advertise the individuals violating the isolation and home quarantine and immediately impose penalties on them.