Precautions to stay for now: Minister of Health

Muscat: The precautions put in place by the government are expected to stay for the time being to reduce the spread of infection in Oman, the country’s Minister of Health has said.
Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Saeedi made the statement during the third press conference of the Supreme Committee to deal with COVID-19.
He pointed out that the epidemiological pattern sketched by the Ministry of Health shows that the number of daily positive cases will peak at 1,500 cases, of which 500 will need to be hospitalised, with 150 likely to need intensive care.
The slow rate of growth helped prepare health establishments for the reception of patients, said the minister, noting that the Royal Hospital has only 60 intensive care unit beds that need to be supplemented by another 100 beds so that the total stands at 160, just enough to cope with the situation.
Al Saeedi explained that the treatment of each COVID-19 patient in the ICU costs OMR1,000 per day. As for lab tests, they depend on the type of diagnostic solution used, but the cost averages between OMR20 and OMR50, he said, adding that additional costs depend on the type of medical equipment required to test patients, as well as the presence of the correct medical specialists to carry out these tests.
The Minister of Health added that the Sultanate had operated 16 flights to the Republic of China to meet some of its medical requirements, with another set of diagnostic solutions likely to be received in 10 days, as of April 16.
He confirmed the sufficiency of medical equipment and human resources in most of the Sultanate’s laboratories, except the Governorate of Musandam, which will receive this in a few days. The application of full isolation in the marketplace of Jaalan Bani Bu Ali was a precautionary measure dictated by the discovery of 12 community-based transmission of the disease. Such a lockdown is a standard measure implemented by the departments concerned in a bid to stem the spread of the virus in the whole wilayat, a step hailed by various global parties.
The Minister of Health added that, according to current available data, the engineering of a successful coronavirus vaccine is likely to take at least nine to 12 months from now, given the sophisticated nature of COVID-19. The discovery of such a vaccine will definitely be a major medical breakthrough.