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BAHRAIN’S robust strategy of testing, tracing and treatment of Covid-19 cases has proven very effective in checking the spread of the virus, according to an official.
National Taskforce for Combating Coronavirus member Lieutenant Colonel Dr Manaf Al Qahtani added that extensive testing was a key factor in the government’s plan to control the pandemic.
He was speaking during a ‘Covid-19 Information Webinar’ hosted by the US embassy.
Also taking part was University of Washington School of Public Health clinical professor of global health and environmental and occupational health Dr Rodney Hoff.
Dr Al Qahtani shared some statistics regarding the steps Bahrain has taken since February, even before the first Covid-19 case was announced.
Dr Al Qahtani
“Bahrain was an early adopter of an aggressive testing regime, everyone entering the kingdom was tested on arrival, whether by land, sea or air, and this allowed us to significantly delay the influence of local spreading among the community,” he said.
“Contact tracing teams have undertaken detailed tracing of every positive case since our patient zero; the success of our tracing teams is demonstrated by the fact that 16 per cent of identified contacts proved positive for Covid-19.
“Once identified as a positive case, the kingdom’s treatment protocols depend on the needs of the patient; asymptomatic patients may require no treatment, symptomatic cases are given any of the treatments currently showing success in the fight against the virus at the dedicated Covid-19 facilities.”
Dr Al Qahtani said there have been more than 160,000 close contacts tested, of which 18,000 were positive.
Commenting on the effectiveness of the strategy, he said the testing protocol has been focused on striking a balance between random and required testing.
“The percentage of positive cases has been, for the most part, overwhelmingly below 9pc, well within the WHO determination that an effective testing policy should identify no more than one positive case per 11 tests, or 9pc of tests.
“When you apply the principle of testing early and capturing those cases and isolating them from vulnerable people, you will definitely have a success rate, our discharge rate is 91pc and we are seven months into this pandemic.
“Our treatment protocols, including admissions, therapies and post discharge follow-up, have been effective in the face of an increasing number of Covid-19 cases; the healthcare system has been able to absorb cases without sacrificing quality of care or rate of recovery.”
In the light of decreasing numbers, Dr Al Qahtani called on people to stay at home during Eid Al Adha to avoid a second spike in cases like what happened during Eid Al Fitir.
Dr Hoff
Dr Hoff pointed out that the US had seen a drop in cases when social distancing and face masks were introduced; however, there has been a surge of new cases in recent months.
He added that 21 vaccines were in the third phase of clinical trials, 18 in the second phase and 139 candidate vaccines in pre-clinical phase one evaluation.
ghazi@gdn.com.bh
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