My salute to the Frontliner's in Bahrain in the COV crisis

 

                                  I was so tempted to ask for a Big Mac and Fries

As I sat in the queue at the COV 19 drive through on 31 December for my 3^rd COV 19 test I thought how much we owe to the Front-liners who kept us safe.

Back in March 2019 these were the statistics:

·       Bahrain total tested cases: 12,131     

o   Tested positive: 220

o   Tested negative: 11,988

o   Active cases: 143

o   Recovered: 772

o   Deaths: 1

By 31.12.20 this was the situation:

234 New cases

169 Confirmed cases

351 Confirmed deaths

 and now on 10.3.2021 , one year on, this is the situation:

Tested: 3,226,434

Active cases 6,220

Stable cases 6,164

Active cases receiving treatment : 100

Critical cases 56

Discharged 121,106

Deaths 474

Source: BeAware Bahrain ap

The WHO praised Bahrain for it’s efforts:

“ Dr. Tedros' speech praised the Kingdom of Bahrain's adoption of an integrated approach to the response to the Coved 19 pandemic, which played a central role by taking precautionary measures, preventive measures and policies proactively and with a high impact in slowing the spread of the virus, as well as its close communication with WHO to follow up on developments and stages of the development of the virus, and to implement its decisions in this regard.”

Source: https://www.moh.gov.bh/COVID19/Details/4267  accessed 31.12.2020

 

In the company I worked for before my retirement, Bapco, they have been very strict with temperature checks on arrival at every building, COV testing, COV vaccination, daily emails and health promotion talks, posters and information leaflets like the ones shown here. My congratulations to the team at Awali Hospital and the Bapco Health Promotion Unit for doing a great job.

The Kingdom also set up a massive communication strategy with the BeAware Bahrain Ap with updated figures daily, the 444 Dedicated COV19 Helpline, Posters at the roadside, and extensive coverage and reminders in the print and social media.

 

In his New Year address the Bapco Chairman and CEO praised the work of the Bapco Crisis Management Team, pointing out that with 10,000 contractors and employees on site with the building of our new refinery well underway COV 19 has been very well controlled.

 

In terms of COV testing every incoming passenger at Bahrain International airport is tested and then they must have a second test 10 days later. The Bahrain International Exhibition centre was converted to a massive testing and Vaccination centre. There are 8 drive through lanes, several walk through lanes for those without cars, and halls for testing medical staff who must be tested weekly. There is a constant queue of cars accessing the site and excellent signage, traffic management as well as regular cleaning, removal and disposal of chemical waste etc. 

They even converted some buses into mobile testing units which visit 3 or 4 sites a day :

“ Specialised medical teams – along with a group of volunteers participating in the kingdom’s Public Awareness Campaign to Combat Coronavirus, have organised the campaign to obtain random medical samples, from owners of hypermarkets, supermarkets, cold-stores, bakeries, and pharmacies – as well as the elderly and individuals who are susceptible to COVID-19, in order to safeguard the community.”

 Back in April 2020 they were testing 850 people a day as reported below:

“Today, as part of the ongoing series of testing, mobile testing units collected random samples from citizens and residents in A'Ali, Al Hidd, Sanabis, Riffa and Al Juffair, conducting a total of 850 tests for the virus.”

Source: https://www.bna.bh/en/news?cms=q8FmFJgiscL2fwIzON1%2BDoOpZJCxn9dz6EmOk95Tn%2Fg%3D ( accessed 31.12.2020)

At the end of 2020:

56,041 people had been vaccinated

The Ministry of Health organizes daily random visits to 7 or 8 sites, including health centers, sports clubs and local markets. The number of examinations in each site ranges between 300-400 examinations. In total, between 2000-2300 daily random examinations are conducted.

Dr. Jameela Al Salman member of the National Medical Taskforce for Combating the Coronavirus (COVID-19) indicated that the Kingdom of Bahrain ranks highly globally in the rate of testing per 1000 people, and that the recovery rate from the virus is also among the highest in the world.

Dr. Al Salman stressed the importance of supporting the national effort to defeat COVID-19 by following all precautionary and social distancing measures, especially during the new year holiday, highlighting that the wearing of face masks in public will reduce the spread of COVID-19.

I think that’s pretty amazing- well done Bahrain

 

And for those 3 % of people without a mobile phone you can dial 444.

                        Everything is online in Bahrain

Back in January, when I first worked on this blog, as I sat waiting for my COV 19 test 10 days after my return from my Pre Christmas break in Dubai my research revealed that:

Out of 7881 COVID-19 tests carried out on 1 January 2021, 238 new cases had been detected among 128 expatriate workers, 103 new cases are contacts of active cases, and 7 are travel related. There were 152 recoveries from COVID19, increasing total recoveries to 90369.

At that point there were 10 COVID19 cases in a critical condition, and 25 cases receiving treatment. 2182 cases are stable out of a total of 2192 active cases.

As you can see from the top of the Blog the number of cases, and deaths continues to rise and may I add my condolences to the families of the 474 families who have lost loved ones to this terrible disease.

Finally I would like to end my two part blog series on COV 19 in Bahrain and around the world, by saluting all the front liners who have done such an excellent job protecting us all. Each time I had my swab test ( before and after my flight to Dubai and after my quarantine when I returned) I thought what an awful job it must be shoving giant cotton wool buds up peoples noses all day every day. The medical professionals doing the testing, vaccinating and so on also put themselves at risk of contracting the disease daily.

So whilst we may complain about not being able to go to a massage parlour for a year, or the gym , and having to eat outside or from a polystyrene container - please spare a thought and pray for the Frotliners!

Thank you and remember to dispose of your mask safely