BAHRAIN enters the green zone of the Covid-19 Alert Level Traffic Light System today, with an easing of most of the existing coronavirus restrictions.
The decision follows a drop in hospital admissions, as announced by the Health Ministry last Thursday.
According to the updated four-tier traffic light system to combat the spread of the virus, if the figure is 50 or less for 14 days, it is safe to move to the Green Alert Level.
The National Taskforce to Combat the Coronavirus (Covid-19) had stated last week that the yellow level was activated as a precautionary measure, despite the numbers not requiring it at the time.
With the implementation of the green level, all indoor facilities will revert to 100 per cent capacity, and citizens and residents will no longer be required to show the Green Shield on the BeAware app to enter mosques, shopping malls, restaurants and cafés, government centres, gyms, cinemas, and salons.
Masks will no longer be required outside, but will be required indoors.
In the last six days, the country has seen a fall in the number of daily new and active Covid-19 cases, as well as those requiring hospital and intensive care.
The national vaccination campaign has also been recording success with almost 80 per cent of the population taking two shots of an approved jab.
The country recorded a 50pc drop in total cases over the last six days, from February 8 to Sunday, with 35,682 cases compared to 53,547 cases the previous week (February 1-7).
The daily average also fell by nearly 28pc, from 5,947 in the last six days (February 8 to 13) to 7,650 the previous week (February 1 to 7).
The number of active cases, which had been steadily increasing since late last year, has begun to decline. Despite rising from 48,166 on February 1 to more than 60,000 last week – an all-time high in the country – the numbers have since begun to fall.
On February 11, the number of active cases dropped to 58,404, followed by 55,332 on February 12 and 54,266 on Sunday.
Cases requiring hospitalisation, on the other hand, have remained relatively high since January 29 – averaging more than 120 cases in the last 16 days. During this time, an average of 18 cases were in intensive care.
Unfortunately, the virus has claimed more than two lives on an average since the beginning of the month, with the month’s toll standing at 19. Last month, 14 people died.
In the previous year, there were 1,042 deaths in the country, led by June (372) and followed by May (334), April (125), March (72), February (74), and January (23).
Since July last year, when 32 people died, fatalities have been on the decline. There were four deaths in August, one in September, four in October, one in November and none in December.
Last year, 352 people died as a result of Covid-19 complications, with the first death occurring on March 16.
Bahrain has till date recorded 1,427 Covid-19 deaths, accounting for 0.30pc of the total 463,805 cases as of Sunday (Feb 13). It includes 54,266 active cases and 408,112 recoveries and the fatalities.
Senior task force medics had previously predicted a spike in cases due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, which they predicted would peak and then decline. They also expressed confidence in the vaccines’ efficacy, which was demonstrated by milder symptoms and fewer complications among infected people when compared to previous Covid-19 variants.
As many as 1,197,908 of Bahrain’s estimated 1.5m people have received two doses of a vaccine of their choice, while 1,228,504 have received at least one dose.
The booster shot was administered to 954,720 people.
The GDN previously reported that 94pc of the eligible population had received two shots and 83pc had received the booster jab.
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