Author: News Desk

The Kuwait Ministry of Health announced the death of a 68 years old, Bengali resident on Saturday. 93 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and 1 death was reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 1,751 and total deaths to 6. In a statement, Health Ministry spokesperson Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad said that 34 patients were in intensive care, 18 of them are in critical condition and 16 stable. The dead Bengali resident was in the intensive care unit for 9 days. Those currently receiving treatment at hospitals reached 1,465 patients said the spokesperson. Adding that 20 individuals have…

Stranded Pakistanis in the UAE welcomed the special flights initiative by the UAE and Pakistani governments and said emergency cases should be considered on priority while selling tickets to registered people at the consultate. Some Pakistanis complained about the need for awareness about ticket purchases for special flights and said priority should be given to emergency cases. “First special PIA flight from Dubai will repatriate up to 200 passengers to Faisalabad. The airline is finalising a plan to launch several special flights during next week to repatriate stranded Pakistani nationals in the UAE,” according to a source in PIA. Currently,…

Saudi Arabia extended on Friday the validity of all expired national IDs for two months, during the period of suspension of workplace attendance in government sectors, as part of the government’s efforts to lessen the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. The extension can be done through automated systems without the need for the citizen to visit the civil status offices, the Ministry of Interior said. The Ministry also announced that individuals can now renew their driving licenses online, without the need for an eyesight test, as well as enabling the renewal of vehicle licenses through the ‘Absher’ online platform and…

The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention on Friday announced 477 new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus along with two deaths and 93 recoveries. More than 24,000 tests were conducted to detect new cases. The total number of infections in the country stands at 6,302 as of April 17, while total recoveries are 1,188. The death toll in the UAE is now 37. https://twitter.com/NCEMAUAE/status/1251202272371118081?s=20 To detect cases early, the UAE has opened 14 drive-through testing facilities that can screen hundreds of people daily without them having any direct contact with healthcare workers. The health authorities said up to 7,100 people…

The Emirates Red Crescent, ERC, has announced that it would be a patron and provide care to the families of COVID-19 deceased from all nationalities. The gesture which is part of the country’s initiative “You are among your Families” includes several vital steps and enhances the philanthropic organisation’s programmes in the social services field. In this regard, Dr. Mohammed Ateeq Al Falahi, ERC Secretary-General, emphasised that Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region and Chairman of the ERC is following the organisation’s initiatives related to bringing COVID-19 under control nationwide and always instructs the importance…

Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said the Kerala-based Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Science and Technology has developed a low-cost diagnostic test kit that can confirm COVID-19 in two hours. The diagnostic test kit developed by the Thiruvananthapuram institute can detect coronavirus in 10 minutes, and the sample to result time will be less than two hours, Vardhan tweeted.  A total of 30 samples can be tested in a single batch on a single machine, he said. https://twitter.com/drharshvardhan/status/1251168623084756992?s=20 https://twitter.com/drharshvardhan/status/1251170111387348998?s=20

Four more cases of COVID-19 have been registered, bringing the number of new cases of the day to 44. 1 recovery has been reported in Bahrain. Bahrain tested a total of 79612 until now. There are 1011 active cases. These include 1008 stable cases and 3 critical cases. 726 people have been discharged. Only 7 deaths have been reported until now. This takes the total cases in Bahrain to 1744. The Ministry of Health announced the death of a 60-year-old Bahraini citizen on 14th April, who has underlying chronic diseases and health issues. The deceased got the necessary treatment and care…

Researchers have begun trials of drugs that could prevent vulnerable groups developing severe coronavirus symptoms. The Oxford University team plans to test pre-existing drugs on patients once they show the first signs of the disease. They will look to see if any can reduce the need for hospitalisation or speed up recovery. The project is one of a tranche announced by the government. In the first phase of the Oxford trial, GPs will test the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to see if it is effective. Another drug being considered is the antibiotic, azithromycin. Other promising drugs will be put to an expert advisory…

The mobile testing units, in cooperation with the community police, conducted a field visit to the Waqif market, as part of the random checks. The Health Ministry will continue randomly selecting citizens and residents to test for the coronavirus, as part of a national response to its global spread. The Information and eGovernment Authority will select 20 individuals from each housing block on a daily basis, over a duration of 12 days. https://twitter.com/MOH_Bahrain/status/1251169882521178114?s=20

Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management, chaired by His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced that the round-the-clock sterilisation programme in the emirate will be extended for an additional week. The extension follows the positive impact of the two-week sterilisation operations and intensified restrictions on movement aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus, COVID-19. The Committee’s decision to extend the 24-hour sterilisation programme, which first came into effect on April 4, 2020, is part of its efforts to heighten precautionary measures against COVID-19. The success of task forces’ efforts to ensure high levels of…