The fumigation activity currently being undertaken in Muscat has nothing to do with the COVID-19 outbreak, according to Muscat Municipality.
Speaking to the Observer, an official at the civic authority said that fumigation was a routine practice carried out in coordination with the Ministry of Health.
“The Muscat Municipality has been carrying out the disinfestation practice for quite some time now and it has no relation to the COVID-19,” he said.
The official also confirmed that the chemicals used in the fumigation are safe and not harmful to health. In fact, fumigation is a way of safeguarding public health, he added.
“The chemicals used for spraying in residential areas are subject to various quality checks and harmless to other living creatures including plants and stray animals found near municipality trash.”
Additionally, the dedicated teams engaged in the drive are given clear instructions about how to carry out the activity and the whole campaign is closely monitored.
He further pointed out that as a precaution against the threat posed by mosquitoes to public health mosquito elimination campaigns have been carried out by the Ministry of Health and municipality out in the past also.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health represented by the Private Health Establishments Department has organised a workshop to update the health workers’ information on the novel coronavirus (nCoV). It was attended by over 400 medical and allied health professionals from the private sector.
The workshop aimed at raising awareness among the health workers in the private sector on the medical response to the novel coronavirus outbreak including precautionary measures the working mechanism to be followed to detect and diagnose the disease.
The workshop also tackled the issues related to referring the suspected cases from the private to the government health institutions for health checkups and appropriate health care.
The efforts of the Ministry of Health to combat the COVID-19 and preparedness plans to handle any infected or suspected cases were also highlighted.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
