Dubai: More than 14 per cent of all deaths reported in Oman during 2020 were due to the COVID-19 pandemic, local media said.
A total of 10,496 people died last year, according to statistics from the National Centre of Statistics and Information with 1,499 of them dfalling prey to coronavirus. This means COVID-19 deaths accounted for 14.28 per cent of all deaths recorded in 2020, the Sultanate’s Ministry of Health said.
Currently, the number of deaths due to COVID stands at 1,544 people. Oman has recorded 137,929 cases of the disease, and seen a recovery of 129,543 people, resulting in a recovery rate of 94 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health.
Of the nearly 10,500 people who passed away, the vast majority (8,576) were Omanis. 58.5 per cent of them, or 5,015 were males, while the remaining 3,561 (41.5 per cent) were females.
Conversely, only 1,920 expatriates died in Oman last year, among whom 1,623 (84.5 per cent) were males, and 297 (15.5 per cent) were females. The number of deaths recorded in 2020 was significantly higher than the previous years.
In 2019, 8,581 deaths were reported while in 2018 the numbers stood at 8,979; 2017 saw 8,861 deaths, and 2016, another 8,828.
Oman’s birth rate also fell in 2020: some 81,704 babies were born last year, compared to 86,819 in 2019.
Once again, the majority of these babies were welcomed into Omani families (74,571); 37,821 of these new arrivals were boys, while 36,750 were girls.
Babies born to expatriate parents numbered far lower at 7,133; 3,751 of these tiny tots were boys, and 3,382 were girls.
