Ministry of Health issues advisory on Coronavirus

Muscat: Statement No. (4) January 31, 2020 on the epidemiological situation of the outbreak of the Coronavirus emerging has been issued by the Ministry of Health on Friday.

The statement said: “Follow-up to the data issued by the Ministry of Health regarding the epidemiological situation of the emerging Coronavirus in the People's Republic of China; the World Health Organization, represented by the Emergency Committee on International Health Regulations (2005) regarding the outbreak of the emerging Corona virus 2019, announced that this outbreak constitutes to be a public health emergency internationally, because new diseases continue to appear in countries outside the People's Republic of China.”

“Accordingly, all countries should be ready to contain the outbreak, through active surveillance, early detection, isolation and case management, raising community awareness and preventing the spread of infection," the statement added.

The statement also said: “The recorded and confirmed cases in the laboratory within China reached about 9657 cases, of which 213 resulted in deaths. The number of cases outside China reached 108 in 21 countries, including 7 cases not related to travel to China.”

The Ministry of Health confirmed that no new cases of Coronavirus in the Sultanate have been recorded. However, delegations of any case are a possibility, and it is fully prepared to monitor and deal with any suspected cases of Coronavirus. The Ministry also confirmed that it will keep citizens and residents informed through official media channels about any new developments.

The Ministry asked the citizens and residents to follow the advice and guidance issued by it and the World Health Organization, with regard to prevention and infection control measures. It also stressed on citizens to not travel to China and affected areas except in the case of extreme necessity.

The Ministry also calls upon citizens and residents to take information from the official sources of the Ministry of Health and not to pay attention to rumors, and to contact the Ministry of Health contact center on 24441999 for more information and inquiries.