GCC countries ‘efficient in fighting virus’

THE Gulf states have been efficient so far in combating Covid-19 by following guidelines set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

This was revealed yesterday by regional experts from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during a telebriefing with the media.

They praised the steps taken by the GCC countries, particularly Bahrain, by implementing contact tracing.

“The steps and initiatives taken by the GCC countries are important,” said CDC Global Migration and Quarantine Division Regional Programme director Dr Heather Burke.

“The GCC countries’ approaches are diverse and in line with WHO guidelines.

“In Bahrain, all needed efforts are happening, especially contact tracing, which is really important as the country is on the right track, which helps in tracing and identifying the affected.”

Transparency

Bahrain started applying the method early last month and the details of patients are published periodically on the Health Ministry’s website dedicated to Covid-19.

Dr Burke said 80 per cent of the regional countries have fully or partially closed their borders which helped in limiting cross-border travels.

Also addressing the telebriefing was CDC Middle East and North Africa region deputy incident manager for global Covid-19 Dr Nancy Knight.

She spoke about the transparency of Covid-19 data from the region, adding that the challenge for the countries were the asymptomatic cases.

“The data we get is through direct source and others, which should be transparent for public benefit,” she said.

“In many countries, a number of cases are asymptomatic, which remains difficult to be identified and this is challenging.”

The experts underlined CDC’s priority on preventing loss of lives, avoiding physical gathering and dignified burial for Covid-19 fatalities.

Global figures until yesterday show more than 2.5m cases with 667,552 recoveries and 174,547 fatalities, while there are 130,153 confirmed cases and 6,223 deaths in the region.

The GCC has 31,459 cases and 190 fatalities, while the recoveries are 5,130 patients.

Source: http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/810696/GCC-countries-‘efficient-in-fighting-virus’