Covid-19 spike ‘biggest in GCC’

BAHRAIN has witnessed an unprecedented surge in Covid-19 infections with the country recording the highest number of cases per million people among the GCC nations from February 1 until Thursday.

The latest findings of an online scientific publication, Our World in Data, was based on inputs from US Covid-19 Data Repository by the Centre for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

It showed that among GCC countries Bahrain ranked first in biweekly Covid-19 growth rate, followed by Kuwait, Saudi and Qatar (both ranked in third place), Oman and the UAE.

Spain led in number of confirmed biweekly cases globally from February 1 until Wednesday, followed by France and the UK in the third place.

All of the above information was documented until 5pm yesterday, and subjected to change as the online data gets regularly updated.

The highest number of Covid-19 cases ever recorded in Bahrain was 896 yesterday. A staggering 812 new cases was registered on Thursday alongside 526 recoveries and two fatalities.

The country also reported 841 cases on September 16 last year.

Bahrain registered 525 new cases on February 1 and since then the number has been on the rise, prompting authorities to shut down gyms, ban indoor dining, social events or gatherings in a private residence or space.

In addition, 70 per cent of all ministry staff were urged to go back to remote working.

Authorities continue to urge the public to comply with all Covid-19 measures to stem the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, data further shows that UAE leads in the Covid-19 vaccination daily doses (counted as a single dose) administered per 100 people, followed by Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait during the period from February 1 until Wednesday.

Globally, Israel leads in the mass immunisation drive, according to the data.

Earlier this week, Sputnik V vaccine became the fourth Covid-19 vaccine offered to all people in Bahrain above the age of 18, following the approval of vaccines from Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-Oxford that are currently being offered free of charge.

Source: https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/935706/Covid-19-spike-%E2%80%98biggest-in-GCC%E2%80%99