Kuwaiti defence minister tests positive for COVID-19
Official goes into home isolation and works remotely
Cairo: Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Hamad Jaber Al Ali has contracted COVID-19, the Defence Ministry has said.
The minister will go into home isolation and work remotely, the ministry added.
The news of the official contracting the virus came a day after he attended a parliamentary session where he survived a no-confidence motion.
His health condition is “not worrying,” Al Rai newspaper said, quoting health sources.
“The minister felt mild symptoms and after he did a test (on Thursday), the result came positive,” the sources added.
In recent weeks, Kuwait has seen a surge in infections, prompting authorities to reimpose health restrictions.
Last week, daily COVID-19 infections in Kuwait exceeded 5,000 for the first time since the country’s first case of the pandemic was detected nearly two years ago.
As part of new precautions announced by the government to curtail the spread of the virus, all arrivals in Kuwait are now required to present a negative PCR conducted 72 hours before arrival.
The Kuwaiti government has also decided to temporarily halt all social events held at indoor places starting from January 9 until February 28.
Kuwaiti Health Minister Dr Khalid Al Saeed was quoted as saying this week that the country is experiencing an “unprecedented” wave of infections.