Nearly 16,000 under institutional quarantine in Oman

Muscat: Nearly 16,000 people in Oman are under institutional quarantine at isolation centres set up all across the country, the country’s Government Communications Centre has said.

Institutional isolation is one of many measures organised by the Supreme Committee to deal with COVID-19 to bring down the coronavirus infection rate in the country.

Under current regulations, all arrivals to the country have to enter institutional quarantine for seven days, with a COVID test to be taken on the eighth.

“15,992 people are currently undergoing isolation in 463 active centres at present, across the various governorates of the Sultanate,” said the GC in a statement.

More than half of the people under institutional quarantine are in the Governorate of Muscat, which has about 8,363 people distributed across 192 centres in the capital region.

The southern Dhofar governorate has another 2,252 people isolating across 77 centres, while the Buraimi governorate has a further 1,326 people in 26 isolation areas.

In the Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah, a reported 1,002 people across 37 centres are currently undergoing isolation.

In South Al Batinah, the number of people in institutional quarantine has reached 921 in 31 isolation quarters, while in 32 centres in North Batinah, some 896 people are currently undergoing isolation.

In the central Wusta governorate, the total number of people across 17 centres has reached 474, and in the Governorate of North Sharqiyah, there are 256 individuals in 23 isolation centres.

Around 197 people in 18 institutional quarantine zones have been reported in South Al Sharqiyah, and in Oman’s northern Governorate of Musandam, 194 people are currently undergoing isolation in a single centre.

An additional 29 isolation centres have been held in reserve across the 11 governorates of the country, and 33 more permits have been given to private sector establishments to set up institutional quarantine facilities.

Currently, there are 480 institutional isolation centres actively operating in Oman.