More than 76 per cent of COVID-19 patients in Oman have been cured, indicating the improving recovery rate in the country. As of Wednesday, as many as 60,240 infected patients had recovered since the outbreak.

For the past weeks, the rate of daily recovery from the virus has been good, a positive sign for Oman, especially the healthcare system. So far, Oman has reported 78,569 COVID-19 cases, including 412 deaths, and those who recovered account for 76.6 per cent, leaving the number of active cases at 17,917.

Meanwhile, the infection curve has started to flatten in the past few days, thanks to restrictive measures. Recently, H E Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Obaid al Sa’eedi, Minister of Health, said that the recovery rate in Oman is good. “The mortality rate in Oman is less compared to other countries. There are more COVID-19 patients who have recovered completely in Oman and the epidemiological situation is considered to be normal,” he said.

More than one million patients in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region have successfully recovered from COVID-19 since the first case was reported on January 29, 2020.

“This is a welcome and significantly positive milestone and reflects the efforts made by countries to protect their populations during these very challenging times,” said Dr Ahmed al Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.

Efforts are also underway to identify effective treatments and develop vaccines for COVID-19 in order to save more lives. “The sultanate, represented by the Ministry of Health, is in continuous coordination with the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunisation (GAVI) to get 700,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is produced,” H E Dr Sa’eedi said.

Meanwhile, the number of infections among expatriates have significantly come down, compared to Omanis. As of Wednesday, the total number of cases among Omanis was 48,737 Omanis while among the expatriates it was 30,497.

Dr Saif bin Salim al Abri, Health Ministry’s director general of Disease Control and Surveillance, noted that the low percentage of registered COVID-19 cases among expats is due to the fact that expatriates recently became busy attending their offices and not mingling or their companies refrained from sending them for tests to avoid getting them quarantined or isolated.