COVID-19: Kuwaiti armed forces to help implement health measures

Kuwait City: Kuwait has decided to use armed forces to help implement the health measures adopted by the government last week to confront the spread of coronavirus, the Kuwait Municipality announced on Wednesday.

Ahmad Al-Manfouhi, General Director of Kuwait Municipality, said in a statement that armed forces of the country will join state bodies to confront the spread of coronavirus and to apply the government’s decision on restricting access to public venues for unvaccinated people, Xinhua reported.

Al-Manfouhi, who also heads the main committee to follow up on the implementation of health measures, said that the committee discussed on Wednesday the mechanism for implementing government’s decision.

The committee decided to use the armed forces to help civilian health teams implement the decision, starting next Sunday, which is the starting date for restricting unvaccinated citizens and residents from entering restaurants, cafes, gyms, salons, and shopping malls covering more than 6,000 square meters.

Al-Manfouhi explained that Kuwait needs to intensify the application of health requirements during the next two months, hoping to achieve herd immunity by increasing the percentage of vaccinated people.

On June 14, Kuwait announced the discovery of the first cases of the Delta Covid-19 variant.

Since June 13, Kuwait has opened all museums, cultural institutions and facilities to the public, and has also started direct flights to the United Kingdom, as part of efforts to ease COVID-19 restrictions.