Bahrain urged to take extra precautions in light of highly contagious COVID-19 strain

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Follow health guidelines strictly to protect ourselves, loved ones and the entire community from the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Health authorities made this appeal once again yesterday to citizens and residents in the Kingdom of Bahrain in the face of rising active cases, including those caused by the highly contagious variant first detected in the UK.

Dr Waleed Khalifa Al Manea, the undersecretary at the Ministry of Health, called on everybody to follow all precautionary measures, particularly social distancing, to prevent the spread of the virus.

Also a member of the National Medical Taskforce for Combating the Coronavirus, Dr Al Manea noted that despite relentless contact tracing efforts, there has been a rapid rise in the rate of infections.

On 12 February, in particular, an alarming 896 cases were recorded.

Based on analysis from contact tracing operations involving 300,000 individuals, Dr Al Manea explained that complacency and large family gatherings had led to an increase in positive cases and a number of deaths.

He stressed the importance of adhering to all social distancing guidelines by limiting interactions to those living in the same household and avoiding large family gatherings.

The Kingdom remains committed to safeguarding the health and safety of all in the community.

Dr Al Manea said new screening measures for travellers entering the Kingdom will be implemented, which includes an additional Polymerase Chain Reaction test to be conducted on the fifth day after arrival, totaling three PCR tests, for a reduced total fee of BD36.

On occupancy at treatment centres, the capacity of isolation and treatment centres is 5,499 beds, of which 1,750 are occupied, representing 30.2% of capacity.

The number of asymptomatic active cases under optional home isolation is 5,789 and the percentage of patients recovered out of total cases has reached 93.05%, while the death rate is 0.55% of total cases.

Lt. Col. Manaf Al Qahtani, also a task force member, called on the people 18 years and above to register and get vaccinated.

He assured that all four vaccines approved by the National Health Regulatory Authority for emergency use – Sinopharm, Pfizer/BioNTech, Covishield AstraZeneca and Sputnik V – are safe and effective to fight the virus.

Dr Al Qahtani, however, emphasised that vaccinated individuals should continue following all precautionary measures, as vaccinations do not stop infections, but limit their symptoms.

Another task force member, Dr Jameela Al Salman, highlighted the importance of contacting the hotline no 444, and following the guidelines provided, if any COVID-19 symptoms are experienced.