Author: News Desk

The Bahrain Ministry’s contact tracing programme has identified 32 additional COVID-19 cases in connection with the Bahraini family, up from 16 when the cases were first announced on 9 May 2020. Contact tracing is ongoing. On 9 May the Ministry announced the transmission of COVID-19 among 16 members of a Bahraini family who had been exposed to the virus by contact tracing case no. 2,930, a family member who attended Iftar at their brother’s house. The family had been congregating in a large group of 30 without wearing masks, not adhering to social distancing measures established by the Ministry. This…

Kuwait has reported 1,041 new coronavirus cases, taking the total confirmed cases in the country 18,609, according to the Ministry of Health. The new cases were found after 4,757 NP swab tests in the past 24 hours, as the country ramps ups its efforts to test more people and detect cases early, according to the health ministry spokesman. So far, Kuwait has conducted more than 261,071 coronavirus tests. Some of the newly reported cases are from people who were infected due to contact between active cases, while others are under epidemic investigation. 5 patients died of the coronavirus in the…

The Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department in Dubai, IACAD, has announced that Eid Takbeer will be broadcast through various mosques in Dubai on the morning of Eid al-Fitr. The broadcast during the current time will help revive the Sunnah and the community’s link with the mosques. Congregational prayers continued to be suspended in mosques. Mohamed Ali bin Zayed Al Falasi, Executive Director of the Mosques Affairs Sector, said that Eid Takbeer will be broadcast after the Fajer prayer for an hour before sunrise on the first day of Eid from the mosques’ minarets. The decision to broadcast Eid Takbeer…

Bahrain has reported 151 new COVID-19 cases, of which 96 are among expatriate workers, 48 are contacts of active cases and 7 are travel-related. These new cases bring up the total cases in the kingdom to 8,039 and there are 4,312 active cases of which 9 are critical and the rest stable, according to the Ministry of Health.  27 of the active cases receiving treatment. MOH also reported 147 new recoveries from COVID-19, bringing the total recoveries in the country to 3,715. Bahrain has so far conducted 260,897 COVID-19 tests for the early detection of the virus. So far Bahrain has reported…

British healthcare workers will on Thursday begin taking part in a University of Oxford-led international trial of two anti-malarial drugs to see if they can prevent COVID-19, including one U.S. President Donald Trump, says he has been taking. The ‘COPCOV’ study will involve more than 40,000 frontline healthcare workers from Europe, Africa, Asia and South America to determine if chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are effective in preventing the novel coronavirus. Demand for hydroxychloroquine surged after Trump touted it in early April. Earlier this week the U.S. leader said he was now taking the drug as preventive medicine against the virus despite…

The U.S. government has ordered 300 million doses of a potential COVID-19 virus being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and hopes first doses can be made available by October, the Department of Health and Human Services said on Thursday according to Reuters. “This contract with AstraZeneca is a major milestone in Operation Warp Speed’s work toward a safe, effective, widely available vaccine by 2021,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement. After demands by President Donald Trump, the U.S. Department of Health agreed to provide up to $1.2 billion to accelerate AstraZeneca’s vaccine development and secure doses of…

China began its most important political event of the year on Thursday after a two-month delay because of the coronavirus pandemic. The opening of the annual session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference is a further sign of what the government says is its victory over the outbreak that originated in the central city of Wuhan late last year, The Associated Press (AP) reported. That will be followed Friday by the opening of the National People’s Congress, the ceremonial parliament, highlighted by a speech from Premier Li Keqiang outlining economic and social goals for the year. It remains unclear…

Emirates said it has redefined safety and hygiene standards on board and on the ground as it unveiled multi-faceted measures for employee and customer care at every step of the travel journey. The new measures took effect today, with the resumption of regularly scheduled passenger flights to nine destinations. “Emirates is implementing a comprehensive set of measures at every step of the traveller’s journey, to enhance the sanitisation of all touchpoints, and ensure the health and safety of our customers and employees,” Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer, said. “The risk of catching an infection on an aircraft is…

Bahrain’s embassy in Kuwait has repatriated 42 Bahraini citizens in the implementation of the directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to provide full support to Bahrainis abroad wishing to return home. The Gulf Air flight also carried 24 Kuwaitis and eight people from other nationalities back to Bahrain where they live. Bahrain’s Ambassador to Kuwait Salah Ali Al Maliki expressed thanks and gratitude to HM the King for the royal directives that reflect the depth of compassion and care for Bahraini citizens wherever they are and whatever circumstances they are facing. He also praised HRH Prince…

Kuwait has reported 320 new recoveries from COVID-19, bringing the total recovered patients to 5,205, according to the Kuwait MOH. Lab analyses and medical tests have shown that the patients were cured of the virus, the ministry said in a press statement to KUNA. The cured patients will be taken to recuperation wards before being discharged from the hospital within a couple of days’ time, it noted. [bkinfobox textcolor=”#000000″ backgroundcolor=”#ffffff” title=”” infobox_align=”aligncenter”] [/bkinfobox]