Thursday 18 / April / 2024
Muscat: More than 2,500 people in Oman have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, figures released by the Ministry of Health show.
Oman recorded 46 deaths last Thursday and over the weekend, with 24 people dying from the disease on Saturday alone, pushing the death toll to 2,513.
The country also reported 4,415 new cases of infection during this period: 1,622 on Thursday, 1,311 on Friday, and 1,482 on Saturday. In total, 234,634 people have been infected with COVID-19, as of 13 June, 2021. However, the recovery rate holds steady at 90 per cent, with 210,952 people infected with the disease having recovered so far.
“The 24 deaths recorded on Saturday, 12 June, represent a record number of deaths on a single day since the start of the pandemic,” said Ibrahim Al Maimani, a social activist and data analyst. “The numbers of existing cases have exceeded 21,000, and it is worth noting that the last time we saw these numbers of cases was on July 23, 2020.”
153 patients have been admitted to hospital because of COVID-related issues in the last 24 hours. Some 1,180 people are in hospital, while 374 are in intensive care.
In light of this significant rise in numbers, the National Emergency Management Centre has stressed the need to urgently unify the national health, civil, military, and security resources under a single management structure, so that it can perform its functions effectively.
Al Maimani added, “There has been a 46 per cent increase in the numbers of inpatients in hospitals, since the start of June, until the 13th of the month, with intensive care units now handling 51 per cent more patients than they did at the start of the month, when 127 fewer people were in ICUs.”
To stop the spread of the pandemic, Oman’s Ministry of Health has accelerated its national vaccination drive, and has asked all those eligible for their COVID shots to get vaccinated at the earliest.
A number of vaccination centres are now providing vaccine doses to people from target groups eligible for the vaccine, as well as government employees, who are among those marked for inoculation under the current phase of the rollout.
“We are taking all efforts to provide COVID-19 vaccines to employees of the administrative apparatus of the state, as well as the target groups, both in the health centre in Quriyat, and the various other sites in Muscat Governorate,” said a statement from the Directorate General of Health Services in the capital.
Those who need to get vaccinated while in the capital can go to five sites: Al Nubaha Basic Education School in Seeb, the Quriyat Health Centre, Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Boushar, Jabr bin Zaid School in Muttrah, and the governor’s office in Al Amerat. All these locations are open between 8am and 2 pm.
Furthermore, a drive-thru vaccination centre has also been launched at the Oman Automobile Association, in collaboration with the ministry, and Aster Al Raffah Hospitals. Operating between 4 pm and 9 pm during weekdays, the centre is currently open to people eligible for their second doses, as well as government workers who need their first shots.
Those who do go there to get vaccinated need to provide their national ID if they are taking their second dose, and must also show their employee ID if they are being administered their first shot.
“Please stay up to date about vaccination groups in the country,” said the DGHS in Muscat. “Periodic updates regarding people eligible for the drive-thru centre will be issued every Saturday.”
