Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: The Supreme Committee members are addressing the media.
Following are the highlights:
1- Minister of Health: 27,400 get the first dose and 12,272 get the second dose.
2- Minister of Health: 102 people have been hospitalized and it has doubled within two weeks.
3- Minister of Health: The committee took a number of precautionary measures due to the spread of the genetic mutation of the virus, including the closure of borders and other measures which we did not wanted to take, but many people did not abide by the procedures.
4- Minister of Health: 6 cases registered with new Covid-19 strain
5- Minister of Health: We will have to pay heavy price if we do not follow measures.
6- Minister of Health: The Supreme Committee was forced to take new precautionary measures including border closures.
7- Minister of Health: The Oxford vaccine has been declared internationally and in the Sultanate and is manufactured in India. We urge people to stop spreading rumours about vaccines and its accuracy.
8- Minister of Commerce: The commercial activities previously announced will remain open unless another decision is issued about them. I thank the commercial institutions for adhering to the precautionary measures.
9- Minister of Health: We know that some have been affected by the recent decisions regarding wedding and meeting halls, and the Minister of Heritage and Tourism and the Municipality of Muscat have been contacted to direct the owners of these halls to conclude a settlement with the tenants.
10- Minister of Health: The decision to close the country will not be taken easily, and we hope that the process of closure and imposition of lockdown will not be carried out.
11- Dr. Amal: There are 96 suspected cases of patients infected with the new strain, but we are waiting for their reports to come and then only we can confirm.
12- Minister of Health: The discovery of any case infected with the virus in the school does not mean that the source of the virus is the school, but rather the community.
13- Minister of Health: We do not want to re-close the Sultanate’s airports to international flights. The issue was discussed at the Supreme Committee meeting yesterday.
14- Minister of Health: The airports were not closed because they were easy to manage, travelers follow and conduct tests, unlike the land borders.
15- Minister of Health: We strongly cautioned those with respiratory symptoms or suspected of being infected should not go to work.
16- Minister of Commerce: Oman has proven its ability to overcome the crisis and to provide various needs and supplies. The movement of freight and import continues at the ports and airports.
17- Dr. Amal Bint Saif: There is no specific test for the old or new strain, but after taking the test, it is possible to find out what kind of strains a person has.
18- Dr. Amal Bint Saif: The new strains are no longer limited to specific countries, but have spread to most countries of the world, and most countries have the capabilities to detect them.
19- Minister of Health: The Supreme Committee may take a decision to publish the names of institutions and establishments that violate the precautionary measures.
20- Minister of Commerce: We call on everyone to adhere to the precautionary measures and not to crowd in commercial stores that shows offers or discounts. The ministry submitted a proposal to the committee to activate scouts and guides in commercial centers and at gathering places and monitor violations to avoid issuing public decisions that affect larger numbers.
21- Minister of Commerce: All the facilities and exemptions came as a result of the closure of activities, and the situation now is different. All activities have returned to their business.
22- Minister of Health: Most common new strains of the emerging coronavirus in the world is the UK strain. We have advanced capabilities to detect it, whether in the laboratories of the Ministry of Health, Sultan Qaboos University, or the private sector labs.
23- Minister of Health: Regarding land movement to neighboring countries for those working outside the Sultanate, there are special instructions for police officers regarding these cases.
24- Dr. Amal Bint Saif: It is unfair to provide the vaccine for welfare and travel purposes, and to deprive the target groups and who are entitled to it.
25- Minister of Health: Whoever received two doses of the vaccine does not mean that he is exempted from quarantine in the event of travel because he may be a carrier of the virus and will pass it on to others even if he is protected from infection, and the concerned committee is still studying this issue.
