Bahrain Covid success as cases drop sharply

BAHRAIN yesterday heaved a sigh of relief as it recorded no Covid-19 fatalities for two days in a row – after 106 days.

The country last witnessed such a day on March 28 – the only day with zero fatalities in a month which saw a total of 72 deaths.

Since then, death toll has been on an upward trend – with 125 in April, 334 in May and an all-time high of 372 last month. January this year recorded 23 deaths, followed by 74 in February.

A total of 352 people died last year of complications from Covid-19, while another 1,026 died this year.

This month, the virus claimed 26 lives until Monday, while no deaths were recorded on Tuesday.

An average of 18 deaths were registered daily during the last 11 days of May. The next 10 days saw fatalities increase to 208, taking the daily average to 20. June 1 recorded the highest daily tally of 29 deaths.

A total of 109 deaths were registered between June 11-19, pulling down the daily average to 12. The remaining 11 days saw a major dip in numbers – a total of 55 deaths, making an average of five a day. Double-digit fatalities (15) were recorded only on June 22.

From the beginning of this month, numbers further dropped with 26 deaths in 12 days, an average of two a day.

Bahrain has lost 1,378 lives to the virus since March last year, which accounts for 0.52 per cent of the total infections of over 267,000.

The first death from the virus was on March 16 last year. The 65-year-old Bahraini woman, who was also the first Covid-19 fatality in the GCC, had contracted the virus while outside the country and had underlying chronic health conditions.

Bahrain has also been registering fewer Covid-19 cases as well as active and critical cases every day. The country witnessed the lowest number of infections in the last nine months, with 74 cases reported on Saturday.

The lowest ever Covid-19 ‘test positivity rate’ of 0.52pc was also recorded on Tuesday.

Test positivity rate – or Covid-19 per cent-positive rate – is the percentage of positive cases from daily tests conducted in a country/state. It indicates the possibility of a person contracting the infection from his/her community.

Active cases also dropped to almost half over the last 13 days – from 2,882 on July 1 to 1,009 on Tuesday.

Critical cases plunged by almost 64pc – 85 on July 1 to 30 on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the GDN reported last week that Bahrain ranks first in the GCC in Covid-19 vaccination rates, with almost 68pc of the population fully inoculated.

The UAE follows close behind with 66.7pc of its people receiving two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine until yesterday. According to World In Data, Kuwait has vaccinated 21.9pc of its population, Qatar 54.6pc, Saudi Arabia 6.7pc and Oman 5.1pc.

Source: https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/951338/Bahrain-Covid-success-as-cases-drop-sharply