Muscat: Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saeedi, Minister of Health, on Thursday said, in cooperation with the private sector, the ministry is all set to open the first phase of a field hospital to handle coronavirus cases by September-end.
The minister was addressing the media during the Supreme Committee on Covid-19's 14th press conference.
Highlights from the press conference.
Minister of Health: The opening of airports and borders will be discussed in the next meeting of the Supreme Committee.
Minister of Health: We will open the first phase of field hospital by September-end, which will reduce the pressure on health institutions in all governorates in cooperation with the private sector.
Minister of Health: All institutions should end the ban on those over the age of 60. They should be not denied entry.
Minister of Health: Death cases of COVID-19 reported among some people who have not been outside their homes for years.
Minister of Health: Basic health services have not been affected by the pandemic, such as vaccinations, maternity, and childcare.
Minister of Health: The Sultanate is witnessing a fluctuating number of infections, but the decline is more than the rise.
Minister of Health: We are in touch with all manufacturers of the Covid-19 vaccine and the Sultanate has joined the Global Vaccine Alliance of the World Health Organization.
Minister of Health: There are institutions that do not adhere to preventive measures and do not measure temperatures of the visitors or employees.
Minister of Health: We must focus on following the precautionary measures to avoid the increase in the number of infections. The most important thing is to avoid social gatherings.
Minister of Health: The number of new cases started to double in some countries after the opening of activities.
Minister of Health: No country can pretend that the Covid_19 epidemic is over.
The Minister of Health: 256 new cases 86,380 total cases registered in the Sultanate. 81, 828 total recoveries at the rate of 94%.
Minister of Health: The Sultanate never reached the point that a patient was deprived of an intensive care bed due to its lack of availability.
Minister of Health: Any activity that requires large human gatherings must be prevented.
Minister of Health: The number of plasma donors in August is 221 from a total of 506 plasma collection units. The total number of donors has reached 911.
Minister of Health: We have succeeded in avoiding the collapse of health institutions due to Corona, as it happened in some countries. The percentage of deaths in the Sultanate did not exceed 1%
Minister of Health: There will be a press conference soon on the education sector in the presence of the Minister of Education.
Minister of Health: There are employees in the health sector who have not taken leave to spend time with their families for 8 months.
Minister of Health: The matter of opening of cinemas is still being studied.
Minister of Health: The Sultanate, represented by the Ministry of Health, has placed applications with all companies that are in the last stage of testing the vaccine.
Minister of Health: There is a specialized team that meets weekly to review requests to reopen activities, including mosques. Islam is a religion that permits to perform religious duty from any place.
Minister of Health: There was an intention to participate in clinical trials of vaccines, but most of the companies put impossible or difficult conditions.
Minister of Health: 30% of those in intensive care suffering from kidney failure.
Minister of Health: Health practices have been greatly affected by the pandemic, including delay in surgeries and others. We seek to gradually restore health services as before the pandemic.
Minister of Health: There is a specialized team that meets weekly to review requests to reopen activities, including mosques. Islam is a religion that permits to perform religious duty from any place.
Minister of Health: Returning to life before January 2020 is not possible, but we must adapt and live with Covid19.
Saif bin Salem al Abri, Director General of Disease Control at the Ministry of Health: We do not rely on the number of tests to monitor the outbreak of the epidemic because it differs from one country to another. It depends on the number of inpatients and population density.
Dr. Saif Al-Abri: The number of hospitalizations decreased by 38%, the number of inpatients in ICU decreased by 40%, and deaths decreased by 23%.
Dr. Saif Al-Abri: There is no relationship between Sultanate’s participation in clinical trials and relations with companies. The Sultanate’s participation will be always based on internationally recognized protocols.
Dr. Saif Al-Abri: PCR tests should be taken 3 days before a person travels, and MOH certifies all laboratories designated for this examination. The challenge for private hospitals is that they send samples to other laboratories.
Dr. Saif al Abri: We hope that the (self-reporting) feature of suspected cases will be implemented through the smartphone application (Tarassud +) very soon, in five languages.
Dr. Saif Al Abri: Covid19 is not only a problem of the Ministry of Health but a national concern that affects all sectors in the Sultanate.
Dr. Hamad Al-Harithi: Do not be deceived by the simple symptoms of Covid19. Sometimes complications appear in later stages.
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