Muscat: Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saeedi, Minister of Health, on Thursday said precautionary measures are must as Oman is yet to reach the recovery phase.
The minister was speaking during the fifth e-press meet of the Supreme Committee on Covid-19.
“It is not possible to predict a specific date of the peak in Oman terms of Covid-19 cases. We are not in the recovery phase yet and precautionary measures have to be followed. A working group has been formed under Dr. Abdullah Al Harrasi, Chairman of Public Authority for Radio and Television (PART) and member of the Supreme Committee, to develop a plan for the post-recovery phase,” said the minister.
Replying to a question on the possibility of the situation easing by the end of Ramadhan, the minister said, "Unfortunately, the world won't be the same as it was before the start of the Covid-19 epidemic. There are no indicators that the number of virus cases will come start to decline by Eid al Fitr."
"The checkpoints between the governorates were halted as the restrictions did not yield expected results," he said.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) has conducted almost 40,000 Covid-19 examinations in the Sultanate so far and there are 65 Covid-19 patients in hospitals, including 17 in ICU.
Answering to a question, the Health Minister said around 60 Covid-19 cases have been reported among healthcare workers in the country. Total deaths in the Sultanate so far is 10, and the death rate of those hospitalized in the Sultanate has not exceeded 0.5 percent.
A commercial establishment has caused 108 infections in Muttrah. The highest percentage of cases in wilayat of Muttrah is among the tailoring professions, Dr al Saeedi added.
“One person in Southern al Batinah transmitted the virus to dozens of people. All cases registered in the South al Batinah governorate are due to contact with the infected cases,” explained the Minister.
The Minister thanked all citizens and residents of the country for complying with health instructions and guidelines.
Among the Covid-19 cases reported in Muscat, the majority of them are expatriates, while in the rest of the governorates, the majority of the cases are Omanis.
Dr. Saif al Abri, DG of Diseases Surveillance and Control, said Dhakilyah has reported 93 cases among citizens compared to 10 among expatriates whereas North al Batinah reported 96 cases among citizens compared to two expatriates.
Issam Bin Saud al Zadjali, chairman of the Muscat Municipality, said a total of 38 economic activities have been allowed to function. All markets are closed except for the Mawelah vegetable and fruits market within certain conditions.
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