FOURTEEN children from one Bahraini family have been infected with the coronavirus (Covid-19), it has been revealed.
Health officials said the family – which recorded a total of 31 positive cases – failed to adhere to Covid-19 protocols leading to the massive spread.
The Health Ministry in its statement yesterday also warned the public against letting their guard down – stating that a lack of commitment has led to a spike in the daily number of cases of the virus in Bahrain of late.
From December 24 until Sunday, number of daily cases increased, averaging 242. In the 11 days, Sunday recorded the highest number of 294, while the lowest of 202 cases was recorded on December 28.
“Within the framework of continuous follow-up by specialists using the ministry’s contact tracing mechanism, 31 existing cases of citizens with Covid-19 have been identified in one Bahraini family,” said the statement.
“Laboratory tests were conducted on all family members and the results showed that 14 of them were children.
“The medical team found that the family members did not abide by the decisions and procedures issued by the national task force, which led to the spread of the virus amongst them,” it said, adding that professionals at the ministry are continuing to trace contacts of the family.
The ministry renewed its call to citizens and residents to adhere to Covid-19 precautionary measures as a “national duty” – cautioning them that non-compliance would prove risky.
Measures
People have been urged to limit gatherings within the same family, wear face masks and apply social distancing measures.
Bahrain registered the highest number of 690 new active coronavirus cases on September 18 – the month witnessing a 75 per cent rise in new cases compared with the previous months. However, the country recorded an almost 37 per cent drop in the last week of October compared with the rest of it. For the first 24 days of the month the daily average was 380 cases which dropped to 239 from October 25 until 31.
The next month saw a further dip with an average of 173 cases. The month also recorded the lowest ever daily cases of 114 on November 22, the lowest since August 30, when the number of daily cases had dropped to as low as 183.
Daily cases had dropped below 200 from November 12, averaging around 153 that month.
Last month also witnessed the same trend until December 23, with an exception on two days – December 9 with 201 cases and December 20 with 220 cases. The month saw cases averaging at 168 everyday.
The GDN reported on Friday that the average number of daily cases in the past week increased by 229.7, as against 173.3 cases a day during the previous week.
Meanwhile, number of deaths dropped to 11 last month against 20 in November, 70 in October, 61 in September, 43 in August, 60 in July, 68 in June, 11 in May and four each in April and March.
The GDN reported on Thursday that top medics cautioned public to be vigilant on the New Year’s Eve, citing the lingering threat with family gatherings posing the highest risk.
Senior members of the National Taskforce for Combating the Coronavirus Lt Col Dr Manaf Al Qahtani and Dr Jameela Al Salman, and Health Ministry Under-Secretary Dr Waleed Al Manea said the country witnessed a spike in Covid-19 cases this month, with 39 per cent of them infected through family gatherings.
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