Tuesday 16 / April / 2024
Muscat: More than a 100 new COVID-19 patients were hospitalised in 24 hours in Oman according to statistics made available on the government’s Tarassud app on Sunday.
The coronavirus monitoring app launched by the Ministry of Health, showed that the number of those hospitalised during the past 24 hours reached 114, and 290 patients were admitted to ICU, bringing the total number of patients admitted to health institutions to 937 cases – the highest ever since the start of the pandemic.
The Sultanate also recorded 28 deaths during the past three days bringing the total to 2,413 deaths and 3,177 new cases of coronavirus, according to the daily report of the Ministry of Health.
The Ministry stated that the total number of registered cases in the Sultanate is 223,879 cases, those recovered were 204,480, at 91.33 per cent, and 2,413 deaths, at 1.07 per cent. The total cases currently sick with COVID-19 disease in the Sultanate is 16,986, at 7.58 per cent.
For the first time since the pandemic of COVID-19 began, the total number of cases in hospitals crossed 930 cases, with 290 cases in intensive care.
A Social Activist and Data Analyst, reading the data from the Ministry of Health, pointed to a significant decrease in new cases of coronavirus infections and ICU patients in the region.
Speaking exclusively to the Times of Oman, Ibrahim Al Maimani, A social activist and data analyst said, “The month of June 2021 will be very difficult in terms of the number of infections and in-patients in hospitals, as the number of COVID-19 infections in the Sultanate exceeds a thousand per day, while the number of in-patients within 24 hours is very high, and during the past week records were at 124 and 140 cases.”
He confirmed that for the first time, we reached 937 cases in hospitals, and for the first time, we also reach 290 cases in intensive care, both of which are the highest since the start of the pandemic.
“When analysing the statistics from the beginning of June until today, corresponding to June 6, we note an increase in new cases during these days, above a thousand cases, which led to a decrease in the recovery rate from 92 per cent to 91.3 per cent,” Al Maimani explained.
“6,655 new cases were recorded during this period whereas, in contrast, 4,520 new cases of recovery were recorded, and we note that the number of new infections daily is more than the new cases of recovery,” he added.
“The number of in-patients in hospitals increased by 16 per cent - that is 129 cases, from 808 cases at the end of May, to 937 cases as on June 6. As for the intensive care cases, their number at the end of May reached 247, and on June 6, the number reached 290, with an increase of 43 cases, at a rate of 17 per cent,” Al Maimani confirmed.
About the deaths due to COVID-19, he said, “68 deaths have been recorded since the beginning of the month, at a rate of 11.3 deaths per day, which is the rate closest to the highest death rate in the Sultanate - that is 11.5 deaths per day recorded in April of this year.”
The Ministry of Health has said on first of June 2021 that, as per vaccine procurement agreements signed with different firms, the Sultanate will receive 1.25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines at a rate of 200,000 doses per week.
The Ministry strives to cover all target groups in Oman, equivalent to 70 per cent of the population of the Sultanate. The vaccine will be administered in stages, in accordance with the schedule of arrival of doses and in line with the national immunisation strategy.
Badr Saif Al Rowahi, Director of Contagious Disease Department at the Directorate General of Disease Surveillance, said that the Ministry devised an immunisation plan for June that targeted General Education Diploma (GED) students and the GED exam supervision staff.
The programme began on May 25. The plan also covers private sector health workers who did not receive the vaccine, in addition to basic service providers and personnel of military and civil departments, said Al Rowahi, adding that everyone will begin to be vaccinated this week.
As for other segments of society, the vaccination drive will cover those aged 45 and above during the third week of June, said Al Rowahi, who explained that those who received the first dose and completed 10 weeks will receive the second dose this month.
Other target segments to be covered during June include higher education students in institutions of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Al Rowahi added.
He pointed out that the immunisation plan will be conducted in a variety of methods with the prime aim of covering the target segments at immunisation centres and through mobile teams.
The campaign to vaccinate students and GED exam staff has so far covered about 32,000 or 43 per cent of the target segment, just within five days, said Al Rowahi, adding that despite society’s cooperation, challenges still remain, and these include reservations among the elderly and student parents.
Al Rowahi stressed that the vaccine is totally safe and that it has been endorsed only after tests by specialised departments in the countries of origin and by international organisations that licensed the vaccine.
Dr Zaid Al Hinai, a consultant on paediatric infectious diseases at Sultan Qaboos University, said that the effects of vaccines start after two weeks of the first dose, depending on time and place it could be 50 to 70 per cent protection and full protection sets in after two weeks of the second dose.”
“We must not be deceived by having vaccines in airports and think the danger of the virus will disappear. In addition, there is no guarantee that after we receive the vaccine the virus will disappear,” he cautioned.
