Oman reports record number of Covid-19 deaths at weekend

Health minister says hospitals stretched and home vaccination offered to old and chronically ill

People register to be immunised against Covid-19 at Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre in Muscat. Elderly people and those with chronic illnesses can now be vaccinated at home, Oman’s health minister said on Sunday. AFPShow less

Oman reported a record number of Covid-19 deaths at the weekend.

Health Minister Dr Ahmed Al Said said the country’s medical system could break down if the influx of patients continued to rise.

On Sunday, the Health Ministry said the sultanate had recorded 119 deaths and 5,517 new infections of the coronavirus in the past three days.

Oman does not release daily updates at the weekend.

"On average, that is almost 40 deaths a day and 1,839 infection cases a day," Hassan Al Shamookhi, a statistician and Covid-19 analyst for the Omani government, told The National.

"This is very high, especially when you consider that it never reached a daily death rate of 40 before this weekend."

A woman takes a photo as she undergoes a swab test for Covid-19 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Malaysian Health Ministry announced the country is still within the 5,000 mark of new positive Covid-19 cases. EPA

People board on a ferry as authorities ordered a new lockdown to contain the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, in Munshiganj. AFP

People react during a performance of Dj Reinier Zonneveld at the music venue Paradiso in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The pop stage reopened its doors at full capacity to visitors, who have to show a negative test result in the CoronaCheck app as part of the venue's 'coronaproof' programme. EPA

A view of German cruiser 'Mein Schiff 2' as it remains docked at the port of Alicante, eastern Spain. The 'Mein Schiff 2' carrying 868 tourists, 800 of them with German nationality, is the first cruiser to enter the port of Alicante in 15 months due to the pandemic. EPA

A man with a face mask walks past a mural by @SentydoART depicting a boy with his face mask downward, in Oviedo, Spain. Spanish Government passed a new law that allows people to go without facial masks outdoors as long as social distancing is possible. EPA

A soldier carries lids for containers to be used by patients next to newly set up cardboard beds at a field hospital in Pattani, as Thailand seeks to contain a surge in Covid-19 coronvirus cases. AFP

Alex Garcia, 29, cries as he holds a portrait of his father, René García, who died in June 2020, at age 59, of COVID-19, during a tribute organized to honor the thousands of people who died from the disease in Guatemala City. AP Photo

Police patrol at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. Lockdown restrictions have come into effect across Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Wollongong as NSW health authorities work to contain a growing COVID-19 cluster. From 6pm on Saturday, all residents in areas subject to stay-at-home orders are only permitted to leave their homes for essential reasons, including purchasing essential goods, accessing or providing care/healthcare, work, education and exercise. The restrictions will remain in place until midnight on Friday 9 July. Getty Images

Sunday’s figures raised the number of cases detected to 262,059, including 2,967 deaths.

Hospitals had admitted another 214 Covid-19 patients in the previous 24 hours, taking the total number of inpatients to 1,635, of whom 489 were in intensive care.

Dr Al Said said hospitals were being pushed to their limits.

“The health system is exhausted at the moment with coronavirus patients. We do not rule out a total lockdown if this continues any longer,” he told Oman Television.

Dr Al Said said the elderly and people with chronic diseases would no longer be required to go to vaccination clinics.

Instead, they could register to have medical workers immunise them at home.

The news was welcomed by people in the target groups.

"It will help a lot of people in these two categories, like me," Abdulrazak Al Amri, 72, who has severe diabetes, told The National.

“I have always wanted to do the vaccination but I was afraid of queuing up for fear I might get infected while there.

"In my condition, I cannot afford to be out in the presence of a large number of people.”

Oman imposed a curfew for the second time in two months last Sunday, ordering all commercial activities to close between 8pm and 4am, and people to stay indoors during that time.

Beaches, wedding halls, exhibitions, mosques and public parks were closed until further notice.