Foreign Ministry Undersecretary meets ambassadors

Manama, Feb.16 (BNA): The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Shaikha Rana bint Isa Al Khalifa met virtually today, with Ambassadors of accredited to the Kingdom of Bahrain, to brief them of the latest efforts and measures adopted by the Kingdom of Bahrain to combat COVID-19. The Undersecretary reviewed the beginning stages of COVID-19 in the Kingdom of Bahrain, explaining that three full weeks before the first confirmed case, Bahrain began to establish the necessary infrastructure to manage this global crisis. “Wwhen it was revealed that the virus originated for the first time in late 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa issued instructions to establish a room concerned with coordination between the various government agencies regarding the measures taken”m she said. She stressed that the leadership is keen to meet periodically and intensely to update and review health policies and the coordination committee also meets periodically under the chairmanship of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, in addition to the daily meetings of national work teams tasked with combating the spread of the virus. Dr. Shaikha Rana discussed the efforts of the Kingdom of Bahrain through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure the safe return of citizens from all over the world by implementing a program to secure their return. She also shed light on the tests carried out by Bahrain, where it followed a targeted and strict testing system, whereby all travelers are examined upon arrival, and the public is randomly tested on a daily basis, in addition to routine tests for students, teachers and athletes. “This has allowed the reduction of local prevalence in the community, adding that the testing strategy in Bahrain has consistently aimed at striking a balance between random and mandatory testing, where the percentage of existing cases was, mostly, less than 9%, as part of the WHO’s decision that an effective screening policy should not specify more than one existing case for every 11 tests or 9% of the tests”, she pointed out. She noted that that the Kingdom of Bahrain comes as the fourth highest number of tests per 1000 people, and that the comprehensive testing strategy has been directed mainly to close contacts, and then high risk segments of the population, essential service providers, and consumer facing members of the workforce. She noted that at the beginning of 2020, the tests were conducted through mobile units that go randomly to various shopping centers, complexes, sports clubs and other prominent public gathering places to conduct random tests for individuals, and last year the government approved the use of the rapid test device and made it available to the general public through a group of pharmacies in the Kingdom. Dr. Shaikha Rana indicated that that the number of cases during the past year was mostly without symptoms, and currently, 66.21% are without symptoms compared to 33.79% symptoms, which shows how proactive Bahrain is, and that it does not depend on self-reporting by patients as the principal basis for testing, rather a substantial proportion of cases are identified and isolated prior to the development of symptoms, minimizing the potential for onward transmission. The Undersecretary reviewed the procedures for PCR test, adding that they are available to all individuals upon request in various private hospitals in the Kingdom, and that after determining a positive case, treatment protocols in the Kingdom depend on the needs of the patient, and those who have tested positive for the virus are subject to quarantine procedures and the health treatment provided, free of charge, whether in public or private hospitals or designated quarantine centers, and those who have tested positive but do not have symptoms may be allowed to self-isolate at home or in a hotel. Dr. Shaikha Rana pointed out that the treatment protocols, including admissions, therapies, and post-discharge follow-up, have proven effective in the face of an increasing number of COVID-19 cases, adding that the healthcare system has thus been able to absorb cases without sacrificing quality of care or the rate of recovery. She also highlighted the BeAware Applicaton, which was launched by the government and provides multiple services including real-time COVID-19 PCR test certificates, and that helps in contact tracing. She noted that the app also plays a vital role in supporting Bahrain’s ‘Trace, Test, Treat’ strategy. “With with the help of the Be Aware App, the contact tracing teams at the “War Room” have undertaken detailed tracing of every positive case since ‘patient 0’ and the success of tracing teams is demonstrated by the fact that 16.7% of identified contacts prove positive for COVID-19”, she said. The Undersecretary indicated that the Kingdom of Bahrain granted emergency use/authorization for COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, Sinopharm, and Oxford/AstraZeneca in the autumn of 2020, and in January 2021, the emergency use of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine was granted, and then the Russian Sputnik V was authorized on February 10, 2021 indicating that getting appointments for vaccination with one of the available vaccines is through the BeAware app. She added that the Kingdom of Bahrain was able to maintain the fourth place in terms of the number of vaccination doses per 100 people, thanking the Indian Ambassador and his government for their generous donation of 100,000 units of the Covishield vaccine. Dr. Shaikha Rana pointed out that the latest precautionary measures taken by Bahrain includes suspending students' attendance and remote learning taking place, suspending indoor dining for restaurants and cafes, while allowing outdoor dining with specific procedures and conditions, which will last for 3 weeks and are subject to renewal based on the recommendations of the National Medical Task Force for Combatting the Coronavirus. In conclusion, the Undersecretary demonstrated the Kingdom of Bahrain's success in strategies to confront COVID-19 with some statistics, the most important of which is the high recovery rate for patients in the Kingdom of Bahrain, starting from January 27, 2021, the recovery rate in Bahrain reached 99.6%, while the death rate for COVID-19 patients has also decreased in the Kingdom of Bahrain, which currently has one of the lowest death rates in the world, currently standing at 0.4%. For their part, the Ambassadors of brotherly and friendly countries accredited to the Kingdom of Bahrain expressed their sincere appreciation to Dr. Shaikha Rana bint Isa bin Daij Al Khalifa to hold this meeting. She noted the valuable information and latest developments she reviewed regarding COVID-19 and the preventive and integrated precautionary measures taken by the Kingdom of Bahrain in order to address this pandemic, stressing their sincere pride and gratitude for the great and lasting support they receive at all levels in Bahrain, which contributes to the success of their work in consolidating various aspects of joint cooperation with their countries.