Muscat: Sayyid Saud bin Hilal al Busaidi, Minister of State and Governor of Muscat inaugurated on Monday the first phase of the field hospital for COVID-19 patients at the old Muscat Airport, in the presence of Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saidi, Minister of Health along with a number of officials.
The audience were briefed on the field hospital setting and the ways of receiving and dealing with COVID-19 patients.
"This hospital will play a role to reduce the burden on the hospitals across the Governorate, and accordingly, these hospitals will be able to practice their usual works normally" Sayyid Saud al Busaidi, Minister of State and Governor of Muscat said.
On his turn, Dr Al Seedi, Minister of Health pointed out that the steady increase in the numbers of COVID-19 cases depends on the adherence of citizens and residents. The government has provided and will continue to provide all means to combat this pandemic, which is our responsibility as individuals, institutions, families, community and stakeholders, he affirmed.
He added that it is very sad to register 210 cases in the ICUs for COVID-19 in the Sultanate and 45 deaths during the past days.
The Minister of Health also touched upon the COVID-19 vaccine, where he stressed that a number of manufacturers have reached the phase 3 trials. The Ministry is in constant contact with all these firms, however, there is no specific date to start manufacturing the vaccine commercially. He emphasised that the Sultanate will not use any medicine or vaccine unless it has ascertained that it is safe and effective.
The hospital will start receiving patients within the next days after all medical and technical equipment along with the health workers including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, lab technicians, and radiologists being prepared.
The first phase of the hospital will start with a capacity of 100 beds; however, the number of beds in the hospital will reach 312 beds in the next stages. A shelter centre will be attached to the field hospital with an area of 10,000 m2 and a capacity of 384 beds. The shelter will be transferred to a hospital, if necessary.
The aim of establishing a field hospital is to relieve the pressure on the Sultanate's hospitals, return back the essential services that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as maintain the health of the health workers in the hospitals and changing the general atmosphere for the COVID-19 patients during admission.
The COVID-19 Field Hospital, which has an area of 6,100 m2, has admission beds for mild and moderate cases, a temporary care section, a pharmacy, a laboratory for COVID-19 cases and a radiology section. It will be run by a medical team from the Ministry of Health, comprising 30 doctors, 115 male and female nurses, 7 lab technicians, 7 pharmacist assistants and 7 radiologists. --ONA
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