Health Minister: Closure indicators are promising, country not to be opened all at once

Caretaker Public Health Minister Hamad Hassan deemed the current total lockdown in the country as “the second successful closure after the first lockdown last March."

"Indicators are promising in light of the decline of the proliferative index to 0.93%, which will be reflected in about two weeks on the positive rate of the tests that we aspire to reduce from 22% to about 17%,” said Hassan in a televised interview.

However, Hassan cautioned against a third surge in COVID cases after the port blast and the holiday season, as a result of the moves currently witnessed in the streets which will constitute the most risky threat to the indicators that are being worked on.

"The spread of mutated strains is reflected in the high number of infections, but the high mortality rate is not related to the spread of these strains as much as it is related to the high rate of infections,” he explained.

Over the current government-decreed lockdown, Hassan pointed out that "the decision to extend the total lockdown is up to the ministerial committee and not to the Ministry of Health.” He added: “It is important to stress that the opening of the country cannot take place all at once, as the Ministry is preparing for a safe and gradual exit plan that combines wisdom and firmness."

As for the Coronavirus vaccines, Hassan encouraged “taking the vaccine expected to arrive in mid-February, as the Pfizer vaccine provides 95 percent protection." He added that a scientific and technical committee has been formed to evaluate a number of other vaccines that are proposed to be imported by the private sector, in order to prepare the necessary legal and administrative grounds to keep pace, with aspirations to reach herd immunity before next fall.



NNA