Oman says ‘alarming’ surge in Covid-19 cases, extends land border closure indefinitely

Oman’s Supreme Committee, responsible for dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, said on Sunday that it has decided to extend the closure of its international land borders until further notice.

The decision was based on a report submitted to the committee by a specialised team who was monitoring the Covid-19 situation, and noted that there was a marked increase in the number of patients catching the disease, hospitalised or admitted to intensive care units, according to a statement published to state-run Oman News Agency.

“The increase is alarming,” added the committee, while declaring the indefinite closure of the land border.

The committee added that entry into the sultanate via land borders will be permitted for Omani citizens, provided they abide by a seven-day institutional health quarantine.

On Monday, the country reported 316 new infections. The total number of positive cases detected thus far in Oman has reached 135,990. The country’s health ministry added that 28 cases were hospitalised over the preceding past 24 hours, taking the total number of current hospitalised Covid-19-infected patients to 136, of which 34 are in intensive care units.

Also on Tuesday, the ministry said that 2,101 people were vaccinated with Oxford-AstraZeneca within the previous 24 hours. The number accounts for 3 per cent of the target segments.

A vaccination campaign underway in Oman is aimed at immunizing people aged 65 and above in all governorates of the sultanate, irrespective of whether or not they are healthy.

People who have received the first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech will not be given Oxford-AstraZeneca. The ministry said that it will announce the date of the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which has faced production issues that resulted in lower supplies to countries worldwide, at a later date.