Kuwait City: During the Cabinet of Ministers weekly meeting on Monday, the Kuwaiti government announced the country was witnessing a rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths despite the 12-hour partial curfew enforced over a week ago.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Basel Al Sabah, stated during the meeting that the number of hospitalisation and intensive care unit (ICU) patients have also surged.
On Monday, Kuwait recorded 1,322 COVID-19 cases and 7 new deaths. The percentage of cases to tests conducted surged to 18.09 per cent as 7,365 swabs were performed.
In addition, the Ministry of Health reported that there are 219 patients in the ICU, the highest occupancy rate since the start of the pandemic.
In an attempt to curb the spread, the Minister called on all citizens and residents to adhere to health measures put in place, including a ban on gatherings and wearing a mask in public. The Minister also urged all citizens and residents who have yet to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to register via the Ministry of Health’s website.
Partial curfew
As of March 7, Kuwait enforced a partial curfew from 5pm to 5am for a duration of one month.
The decision came as Kuwait saw a surge in cases, with March 4 being the highest day to date of recorded cases with 1,716 reported in 24 hours.
All restaurants and cafes have remained closed since February 22 as a mechanism to curb the spread of COVID-19 virus.
The ban on non-Kuwaiti passengers from entering Kuwait is also still in effect after it was enforced on February 7.
Surge in cases
Two weeks ago, the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) issued a newsletter advising travellers not to travel to Kuwait and raised the country’s COVID-19 risk factor to level 4.
Between December and February, the cases increased by about 220 per cent and the total number of cases registered in February was 25,959 compared to December where the total number of cases were 7,949.
