Additional steps to limit COVID-19 impact

Muscat: The Supreme Committee entrusted with undertaking measures to tackle developments resulting from coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic held a meeting here under the chairmanship of Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal Al Busaidi, Minister of Interior.
The Committee reviewed arrangements made by the Sultan’s Armed Forces, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) and other security services to lend support to national action aimed at addressing the pandemic.
In response to national benign initiatives undertaken by many citizens, private establishments, civil society institutions and local society as a gesture to enhance countrywide efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Committee decided to open a bank account to receive cash donations. The funds will be kept under the management of the Ministry of Health, which will announce the details of the account later.
Due to a spate of newly discovered COVID-19 cases in many hotbeds around the Sultanate, the Committee decided to activate the “Medical Response and Public Health” sector and the “Shelter and Relief” sector.
The Committee also decided to suspend all domestic and international flights to and from the Sultanate’s airports with effect from 12 noon of Sunday, March 29, 2020, with the exception of flights to the Governorate of Musandam and air cargo.
In another decision, the Committee instructed that the departments concerned must undertake steps to arrange the return of citizens, particularly students, to homeland Oman. It also instructed the departments concerned to provide institutional isolation for those who return and to utilise the latest technologies and follow-up formalities for ‘isolated’ and ‘quarantined’ cases to ensure the non-proliferation of the virus.
The Supreme COVID-19 Committee also gave directives to the departments concerned to allocate safe places for washing the dead in each of the Sultanate’s wilayats and to deal with every corpse as deemed necessary for eliminating infection risks.
The Committee calls upon all individuals of society and establishments to stick to precautionary measures and preventive procedures to stem the spread of COVID-19). It also warned against the risks entailed by public gatherings, including indoor gatherings, as these might increase the probabilities of virus propagation.
The Committee prayed to the Almighty Allah to protect Oman, its Sultan and Omani citizens and residents against all harms.