MUSCAT: Supreme Committee members headed by His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Al Saidi, Minister of Health are hosting the press conference on Thursday to address the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Here’s the latest update:

1. Minister of Health: Ministry of Health has done 40,000 tests for coronavirus so far.
2. Minister of Health: It is not possible to predict a possible date for the peak.
3. Minister of Health: What we have achieved so far would not have been possible with the support of the Supreme Committee, citizens and residents.
4. Minister of Health: There are 65 patients in hospital, including 17 in ICU.
5. Minister of Health: Laboratory test in Dhofar has been expanded .
6. Minister of Health: Covid-19 tests will be done in a number of hospitals in Nizwa, Al Nahda, Rustaq, Sohar and Royal Hospital.
7. Minister of Health: 60 health workers are infected with Covid-19. 70% of of them got the virus from community transmission and not from patients
8. Minister of Health: We can for company owners and private sectors to take responsibility of their employees, as one of firm in Muttrah led to 108 people getting infected, another had 30 members infected, and another firm also had another 14 infected.
9. Minister of Health: Highest number of infected individuals is in Muttrah which mostly consists of tailoring activities.
10. Minister of Health: Of the total cases, 62 per cent are expats and 38 per cent are Omanis.
11. Dr. Saif Al Abri, DG MOH: With opening of commercial activities, we will may see increases in cases.
12. Minister of Health: We have not reached the stage of recovery yet. I appeal to the owners of the commercial activities to take note of their responsibilities. 
13. Minister of Health: 7 deaths from the virus in the Sultanate were people under the age of 60.
14. Dr. Saif Al Abri, DG MOH: 398 Omanis are infected in Muscat and the rest are expats. In Al Batinah and Al Dhahlya, the infection rates are higher among Omanis than expats.
15. Dr. Saif Al Abri, DG of MOH: Al Dhakiliyah reported 93 cases among citizens compared to 10 expats. In North Al Batinah, 96 cases are reported among citizens compared to two expats.
16. Minister of Health: We will be opening the skies in phases. We are still discussing about this.
17. Issam Al Zadjal, Chairman of Muscat Municipality: Till date, more than 38 commercial activities are allowed to carry their work.
18. Minister of Health: South Al Batinah recorded more infected cases and isolation will be carried out for a region, if we confirmed the presence of a community outbreak of the disease.
19. Minister of Health: There is no evidence that the virus will disappear forever or it will be the same as the other viruses like the seasonal flu.
20. Minister of Health: Everyone is exposed to the virus and not just elder people.
21. Minister of Health: One expat who was infected with coronavirus left Muscat Governorate and transmitted the disease to 50 others.
22. Minister of Health: There are no indications to prove that the pandemic will subside before Eid Al Fitr, so I request everyone to adhere to the social distancing measures.
23. Minister of Health: We thank the immense support of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik.
24. Minister of Health: If there is a second wave of the virus, we will have the same procedures in place.
25. Minister of Health: The amount of donations received in fighting Covid-19 has reached about OMR 24 million and the support of His Majesty’s government is continuing.
26. Minister of Health: We have received reports of some companies are forcing their staff to attend work. We are taking legal action against them and will impose penalties.