MUSCAT : Oman is working hard to contain the spread of coronavirus outbreak, the country’s health minister said on Tuesday.

Addressing the extraordinary meeting of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Executive Council, His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Al Saidi said governments across the globe are “understandably concerned about the economic, social and political costs of the pandemic.”

Al Saidi who is also the First Deputy Member of the Executive Board of the WHO said: “Many countries had earlier implemented measures over the past months that resulted in successful containment of the virus and a steady decline in cases. Across the Region, more than almost 40 million people have been tested, and more than two million people have recovered from COVID-19. But now these countries, and many others, are seeing a worrying increase. In some countries, between 1000 – 3000 new cases are being reported in a 24-hour period. Other factors are also contributing to the rise in numbers that are cause for concern, and that we need to directly and aggressively address.

“These include COVID fatigue among communities and misinformation that are limiting the uptake of personal protective measures, such as mask wearing and physical distancing. They also include our slow progress at scaling up essential public health measures, such as testing and contact tracing.”

Al Saidi also highlighted the need to ensure fair and equitable distribution of the vaccine to all health workers and to all countries in the region, especially those with greater numbers of vulnerable populations – “exposed to famine, natural disasters, political conflict and other disease outbreaks — who have already suffered enough,” he said.

The two-day meeting aims to address the latest developments related to the response to coronavirus pandemic.

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