Muscat: Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saeedi, Minister of Health, member of the Supreme Committee tasked with tackling developments resulting from Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, has said that the number of infections with the virus has come down, but that should not be taken as an excuse to relax abidance by precautionary measures.
The minister noted that, prior to the decline, the number of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients reached 220.
He pointed out that His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik is keeping himself continuously updated about developments of the situation and that His Majesty’s constant directives underscore the necessity of maintaining public health—the life of citizens and residents alike—and, when taking decisions, to strike a balance between maintaining health requirements and considering the economic impacts.
The minister made the statement during the 19th press conference held at the Ministry of Education by the Covid-19 control Supreme Committee since the outbreak of the pandemic.
As many as 5,000 health workers in the Sultanate have been infected with the virus, said the minister.
In reply to a query, Dr Ahmed said that the announcement of a vaccine announced by one of the international firms is good, but declared results are still in preliminary stages and that study is still developing. The Sultanate endorses the principle of checking the validity of any vaccine in its country of origin first, and then checks its efficiency and the way to which is could be safe to use, said the minister, adding that “We intend to obtain enough vaccines to cover 40% of the population as a first stage, hopefully before the end of this year.”
So far, companies have not set a date for the production of the vaccine, but, if received, priority in distributing the vaccine will be given to frontline individuals, health workers, then patients suffering from chronic diseases and then people aged above 50 years, the minister added.
He explained that many vaccines have been announced, but, so far, no cases of application beyond clinical experiments have been registered. “Some firms proposed vaccines for emergency cases, that’s all,” said Dr Ahmed, who advised that no lenience should be allowed, even after experiments reach 90%. “The picture about these vaccines is still vague,” he observed.
Speaking about infant mortality rates, Dr Ahmed said that, before the year 1970, as many as 180 new borns out of 1,000 die, and this percentage dropped to 10.5 deaths per 1,000 new borns, thanks to the application of vaccines against contagious diseases and the improvement of public health.
Cautioning against mix messages, the minister said that, a certain time ago in the Sultanate there was some decline in infection cases, but this decline was followed by sharp rise in infection cases due to non-compliance with precautionary measures. As a result, some activities have not yet been re-opened across some sectors, and there is still the issue of visas to be considered. --ONA
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