Only 14 intensive care beds remain free in Oman as Covid-19 surges

Minister of health blames new variants and lack of compliance with safety measures for the rise in cases

Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat. VAT will help Oman generate about 400 million Omani riyals ($1 billion) in revenue annually. AFP

Hospital beds are filling in Oman as Covid-19 cases soar, the sultanate’s health minister said on Tuesday.

“The capacity of the intensive care units will run out if the situation remains like this,” Dr Ahmed Al Saidi said.

“The reasons behind the hike in numbers are the new strains as the virus has mutated more than once. Additionally, there has been non-compliance with the precautionary measures [prohibiting behaviour] such as gatherings and failure to wear a mask,” Dr Al Saidi said.

The Ministry of Health reported 1,335 new cases of coronavirus and nine deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 174,364 including 154,771 recoveries and 1,798 deaths.

On Tuesday, 101 people were admitted to hospital with the disease, 250 of them to intensive care, bringing the total number of inpatients to 759.

This increase leaves only 14 beds in Oman’s intensive care units available, an internal ministry memo reported, according to medical sources.

“About 96 per cent of the beds in the intensive care are now occupied because of the increased number of patients admitted in the hospitals. The alternative is now to convert beds which are reserved for general patients into coronavirus units,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

Medical workers say hospitals are at breaking point.

“We are severely stretched out at the moment. We have about 760 coronavirus patients in hospitals and that is a record,” said Latifa Muhammed, 33, a nurse at Khoula Hospital.

“The challenge we are facing now is the new strain of the mutant virus, which is on the rise. We get more of these patients now than in the last two months.”

Other nurses say the pressure will increase during the holy month.

“Ramadan is knocking on the door and the energy level is less, since most of the medical workers fast during daylight,” said Ali Al Shaabani, 55, who works at Nahdha hospital.

“Also, we know that Omanis like to gather more in Ramadan and I am sure the cases of infection will rise in that period of time to put more pressure to the medical workers and the hospital facilities.”

Muslims in Oman will observe Ramadan from Wednesday. The sultanate has imposed a night lockdown from 9pm to 4am during the holy month.

Ramadan around the region - in pictures

Children pose for a photo in front of a large graffiti depicting cultural elements including mosques, churches, old window lattices of the old town of Iraq's northern city of Mosul, on the first night of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, during a celebration hosted by a local cultural NGO. AFP

A Syrian man adjusts decorations for the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan at the Clock Square in Syria's rebel-held northwestern city of Idlib. AFP

Lebanese military fire a blank from a cannon a day prior to Ramadan to announce the holy month in Beirut, Lebanon. EPA

Vehicles, motorcycles, and tuk-tuks (motorised rickshaws) drive past a stall selling Ramadan lanterns along the main street in the northern suburb of Shubra (home to a large Christian population) of Egypt's capital Cairo, at the start of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. AFP

A Palestinian boy waves fireworks as people celebrate the start of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah. AFP

People pray at the Eyup Sultan Mosque, in Istanbul a day before Ramadan. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was forced to announce renewed restrictions following a spike on COVID-19 cases, such as weekend lockdowns and the closure of cafes and restaurants during Ramadan, the holy Muslim month, starting on April 13. AP Photo

A vendor decorates his shop at a market in Kuwait City marking the start of the holy month of Ramadan. AFP

Muslims pray during the first dawn prayers of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, around the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, as they keep social distancing to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. During Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex from dawn to dusk. AP Photo

People sit near the Dome of the Rock at the Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site, in the old city of Jerusalem, on the eve of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. AFP