Muscat: Two new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Sultanate on Tuesday, said the Ministry of Health in a statement. With this, the total number of Coronavirus reported in the Sultanate have reached to four.
The statement issued by the Ministry of Health said two more new cases of Coronavirus in the Sultanate have reported on Tuesday. Both these cases are linked to recent travel to Iran.
The Ministry of Health on Monday had reported first two cases of Coronavirus in the Sultanate. Two Omani women returning from the Islamic Republic of Iran were the infected. However, the ministry said both the cases are in stable condition and being quarantined at home.
250 passengers of different nationalities, who travelled on the same flight, also were quarantined.
The ministry called upon on all citizens and residents coming from countries which are affected by the Coronavirus to stay at home and report at the ministry if any signs of symptoms observed. The statement also urged people to avoid traveling to these countries.
In the meantime, the Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) said on Monday that all flights to and from Iran will be suspended until further notice.
Oman Air and Salam Air halted all flights between the Sultanate and Iran since Monday and until further notice.
People on social media started spreading rumours regarding Coronavirus outbreak. So the ministry has denied what was circulating on social media. The ministry denied what has been circulated on registering 9 Coronavirus cases among a number of workers in Al Duqum.
"Regarding what is being circulated on registering cases of the novel Corona virus in the wilayats of Salalah, Barka, Al Mudhaibi, in addition to number of other wilayats, the MoH states that they are unfounded rumours, unless being announced officially by the MOH.
Hence, the Ministry of Health calls upon everyone not to raise panic among community, paying no attention to the rumours, and taking the information from its official sources.
Dr Ahmed al Saeedi, Minister of Health, on Monday stated that the Sultanate will continue with the procedures that were followed during the previous outbreaks.
In an interview with Oman TV, he said travellers coming to the Sultanate (all checkpoints) are required to complete a form with their name, nationality and contact details. In the case of any symptoms related to the virus, these travellers should contact the Ministry of Health at the earliest.
The minister said the quarantine process in the Sultanate began a while ago and more than 250 people who came from the affected countries were quarantined.
The help of translators was also sought in some cases to deal with travelers coming from certain countries.
He added, “The second procedure is that any person coming from Iran, China and South Korea will be quarantined for two weeks, as most symptoms do not appear until two weeks after the virus is transmitted from one person to another.
The minister said the facilities at the clinics in airports are very limited as most infected people might not show symptoms such as fever at the time of travel.”Travellers generally take medications if they have fever-like symptoms due to travel fatigue.”
He said a detailed follow-up on patients who fill the forms at the check-points is more important than installing more devices at the airport.
The Minister said there is continuous coordination between the Ministry of Health and the Ministries of Education, Higher Education to take appropriate preventive measures against the spread of this virus.
In a circular, based on statement issued by the Ministry of Health on February 2, all airlines operating in the Sultanate should cooperate with travellers who do not want to travel to the countries where cases of Coronavirus have been recorded.
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