Oman's Ministry of Health said on Monday that government hospitals would stop testing people with mild symptoms for coronavirus to free up medical staff to work with patients suffering from the virus in intensive care.
On Monday, Oman recorded 1,053 new infected cases with 9 deaths. The total number of infected people has reached 77,058. A total of 393 died from the virus and the official statistics show that nearly 80 of them died in the last two weeks from the coronavirus.
The government advised those with mild symptoms to isolate at home. Those with severe symptoms should still attend the hospital.
“People showing symptoms of Covid-19 will isolate themselves for ten days, and coronavirus tests in government hospitals will be reserved only for medical staff and hospitalised patients,” the Ministry of Health said.
It said people who suspect they have coronavirus would need to go to private hospitals for testing. A test in a private hospital costs 70 rials (Dh693).
The Ministry of Health did not elaborate further but medical experts say that government hospitals were overwhelmed with a large number of people asking for testing on a daily basis.
“With many new infected cases that exceed a thousand a day, the government hospitals are overwhelmed with people who think got the virus when most of them have a common flu. Medical staff need to concentrate on severe cases already in hospital,” said Dr Fatma Al Ajmi, a retired virologist and a medical practitioner.
But the decision to stop testing in government hospitals will hurt low-earning expatriate workers who cannot afford to do testing in private hospitals.
“The test in a private hospital would cost half of my monthly wages and my company would not pay for it. The government used to do it free of charge,” Indian national Ganeshan Ramniklal, 29, a supermarket assistant in Muscat, said.
The Ministry of Health said there were 552 people in government hospitals being treated with coronavirus while 177 patients were in intensive care.
Minister of Health Dr Ahmed Al Saidi said Oman was in touch with “Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, to obtain 700,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine once it is produced”.
Oman on Saturday imposed a nationwide curfew from 7pm to 6am that would last until August 8. It has also banned travel from one region to another to contain the spread of the virus.
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Company Profile
Founders: Tamara Hachem and Yazid Erman
Based: Dubai
Launched: September 2019
Sector: health technology
Stage: seed
Investors: Oman Technology Fund, angel investor and grants from Sharjah's Sheraa and Ma'an Abu Dhabi
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
The biog
Born: Kuwait in 1986
Family: She is the youngest of seven siblings
Time in the UAE: 10 years
Hobbies: audiobooks and fitness: she works out every day, enjoying kickboxing and basketball
Scoreline
Al Wasl 1 (Caio Canedo 90 1')
Al Ain 2 (Ismail Ahmed 3', Marcus Berg 50')
Red cards: Ismail Ahmed (Al Ain) 77'
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The biog
Name: Dr Lalia Al Helaly
Education: PhD in Sociology from Cairo
Favourite authors: Elif Shafaq and Nizar Qabbani.
Favourite music: classical Arabic music such as Um Khalthoum and Abdul Wahab,
She loves the beach and advises her clients to go for meditation.
