Recovery rate ‘is best in the world’
HIGH tracking and testing rates have helped Bahrain take a global lead in the fight against Covid-19, it has been revealed.
According to a study, more than 90 per cent of coronavirus patients in the country have been recovering as against the global average of 57pc and a GCC average of 81pc.
National Taskforce for Combating Coronavirus member Lieutenant Colonel Dr Manaf Al Qahtani said this has been made possible owing to the large number of tests being conducted here.
“Bahrain continues its efforts to limit the spread of the virus by expanding the scope and numbers of daily examinations,” he said, adding that the kingdom “has achieved the second largest percentage of testing rates in the world for every 1,000 people”.
Dr Al Qahtani
He was responding to the GDN on a CoronaTracker.com study ranking Bahrain first for Covid-19 recovery rates.
As of yesterday morning, Bahrain had conducted 760,733 tests, which is 44.6pc of the country’s population which stands at 1,704,068 according to the latest UN figures.
This, according to experts, is one of the highest rates of testing per 1,000 people in the world.
“This is a big effort despite which, right from the beginning, we have been doing regular tests because it leads to early detection and treatment, in turn mitigating the spread of the virus,” Dr Al Qahtani told the GDN in the latest Press conference hosted by the Health Ministry.
“We have implemented this scientifically and the methodology followed, including quick isolation and quarantine, paid off.
“We know there is no proven medication for Covid-19 and hence detection, isolation and treatment are the ways that we can go about.”
Latest data from CoronaTracker.com, a community-driven project that analyses Covid-19 trends, rates the recovery rate in the GCC countries as higher than the global average.
The average rate in Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Oman stands at 81pc, as against the global average of 57pc.
The recovery rate in the UAE is 86pc while it’s 84pc in Kuwait, 80pc in Saudi Arabia and 62pc in Oman.
CoronaTracker.com also highlights Bahrain as one of the first countries outside China to impose tough restrictions soon after the outbreak, with the kingdom closing schools and universities as early as in February.
Gyms and cinema halls were closed in March, while gatherings of more than five people were banned and wearing face masks in public was made mandatory.
Entry restrictions were imposed at King Fahad Causeway connecting it to Saudi Arabia.
However, Bahrain International Airport remained open and was functional under restrictions following public health guidelines.
Meanwhile, the ministry has updated its mechanism to track the impact of contacts on its website and is revealing details of Covid clusters in its weekly updated summary.
UK’s Public Health Agency has defined clusters as two or more laboratory test-confirmed cases among individuals associated with a key setting, which could be a workplace, educational establishment or similar place. Because transmission risk is highest within a household, linked cases within one house are not reported as clusters because they will be identified by contact tracing.
Source: http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/838536/Recovery-rate-‘is-best-in-the-world’