Over 2.5M People Vaccinated, Situation Stable
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THULHIJJA 24, 1442 AH TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2021 16 Pages Max 48º Min 31º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18498 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net A whole generation narrates Speechless and sleepless: UK US authorities scramble, trade Hassan wins Olympic 5,000m 3 a story that no one witnessed 5 airport joy as families reunite 8 blame as millions face eviction 16 in first step in treble gold bid Cabinet: Over 2.5m people vaccinated, situation stable Auctions to resume • Speaker calls for alternatives to health apps By B Izzak Marzouq Al-Ghanem called on the health ministry and the civil aviation authority to find alternatives if 31st anniversary of Iraqi invasion: KUWAIT: The Cabinet said yesterday it is pleased two major applications used by travelers malfunc- with the health situation in the country following a tion. He called on the two bodies to find a joint sharp decline in the number of new coronavirus mechanism to use when the Immune app and A reminder of suffering, resilience cases and as more than 2.5 million people have been Kuwait Mosafer platform do not function properly vaccinated. During its weekly meeting, the Cabinet for travelers returning or leaving the country. decided to restart all types of auctions in the coun- He said authorities at the airport should verify health try, provided only vaccinated people participate. documents with travelers so they are not delayed or The new development comes as Kuwait is also prevented from leaving the country or returning for witnessing a substantial decline in the number of technical reasons. Ghanem’s statement comes after civil patients at hospitals and in intensive care units. aviation officials said a limited number of residents According to official health ministry figures, Kuwait were turned back after arriving at Kuwait airport for has reported under 1,000 cases every day since not registering their vaccination certificates. July 21, and the number has dropped below 800 Meanwhile, MP Abdulkarim Al-Kandari called on cases for the past four days. The number of cases in authorities to abolish restrictions on the number of hospitals is below 1,000, while those in intensive passengers returning to the country, saying that care units dropped to only 288. restricting the number of arrivals has resulted in a The improvement in the health situation comes sharp rise in airfares. He said the restrictions, being despite Kuwait lifting all restrictions to pre- enforced due to preventive health measures, have COVID-19 levels following a series of closures for resulted in problems for travelers and cancellation about 17 months and after allowing residents to of flights and reservations, causing financial losses return to the country after a six-month ban. The 2.5 to passengers and airlines as well. The civil aviation million people who have been vaccinated include authority said yesterday the first day of reopening people who received one or two doses, according the airport for expats after a six-month ban was KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti man flashes the victory sign outside the Al-Qurain Martyrs Museum yesterday, on the to a statement by the Cabinet. “The Council of successful and praised the cooperation of the min- 31st anniversary of the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The museum witnessed a battle which lasted 10 Ministers expressed satisfaction over the positive istries of interior and health, the customs depart- indicators that have been achieved,” said the state- ment and airlines. It said 88 flights operated on the hours between Iraqi troops and a group of Kuwaiti fighters during the Iraqi occupation. — Photo by Yasser ment. It appealed to the public to continue to first day (Sunday) - 42 departures and 46 arrivals - Al-Zayyat (See Pages 3 & 4) observe health conditions and get vaccinated. carrying 8,451 passengers, of whom 3,518 returned. Earlier yesterday, National Assembly Speaker Continued on Page 2 was confirmed by state media which News in brief Millions under said the infections had been traced to a train station. “The seven were iden- 2-day Islamic New Year holiday tified as migrant workers,” Xinhua lockdown in reported, citing COVID-19 prevention KUWAIT: The Civil Service Commission and control officials. Major cities announced yesterday the official public holidays Chinese cities including Beijing have now tested mil- for the Islamic New Year will be on Sunday, lions of residents while cordoning off August 8 (rest day) and Monday, August 9 (Hijri BEIJING: Millions of people were residential compounds and placing New Year). The decision applies to all ministries, confined to their homes in China yes- close contacts under quarantine. government agencies and bodies, along with terday as the country tried to contain Authorities in the capital met and public sector institutions. its largest coronavirus outbreak in agreed on the need to “raise vigilance, months including seven positive tests take strict precautions and defend found in Wuhan, where the virus first (the city) to the death, sparing no 4.5-magnitude quake rocks Kuwait emerged in late 2019. China reported expense,” in comments put out by the 55 new locally transmitted cases yes- Beijing government. Elsewhere, over KUWAIT: A 4.5-magnitude earthquake occurred terday as an outbreak of the fast- 1.2 million residents were placed in the Manageesh area southwest of Kuwait, the spreading Delta variant reached over under strict lockdown for the next Kuwait National Seismic Network (KNSN) said 20 cities in more than a dozen three days in the central city of provinces. yesterday. Dr Abdullah Al-Enezi, an official at Zhuzhou in Hunan province yesterday, NANJING: A resident undergoes a nucleic acid test for COVID-19 in China’s eastern The Wuhan cluster came after the KNSN, said the quake happened at 11:31 am local as authorities roll out a citywide Jiangsu province yesterday. — AFP time in Kuwait at a depth of eight kilometers. official daily tally was released, but it Continued on Page 2 KNSN is an entity affiliated with the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR). — KUNA citizens in the blast. The domestic Zionist entity and Iran, in which ves- Interference investigation has yet to determine what Iran warns sels linked to each nation have been Haniya re-elected Hamas leader triggered the blast, where the chemi- targeted in waters around the Gulf. cals originated from or why they were The Zionist entity blamed Iran for the GAZA: Hamas leader Ismail Haniya has been re- besets Beirut left unattended for six years. against action attack, accusations rejected by elected unopposed, officials confirmed yesterday, In a country where even high-pro- Tehran, with Iran’s foreign ministry furthering his grip over the Palestinian Islamist group blast probe file assassinations and bombings go over attack spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh saying that controls the Gaza Strip after recent clashes with unpunished, many fear that a Sunday that the Zionist entity “must Israel. In a statement, Hamas said that its electoral BEIRUT: In the year since a monster Lebanon-led blast probe will also fail TEHRAN: Iran vowed yesterday to stop such baseless accusations”. process had concluded with his reappointment as explosion disfigured Beirut, a local to hold anyone to account. Officials in respond to any “adventurism”, its for- The US and Britain on Sunday also political chief after “tens of thousands” of members probe has yet to yield significant government, parliament and the coun- eign ministry said, after the US and then blamed Iran for the attack, with took part in the internal poll. Considered a pragma- arrests or even identify a culprit, with try’s top security agencies have so far Britain joined the Zionist entity in Washington vowing an “appropriate tist, Haniya has been head of Hamas’ political bureau politicians widely accused of stalling dodged questioning by referencing blaming it for a deadly tanker attack, response”. Iran “will not hesitate to since 2017, though he lives in exile, splitting his time progress. The Aug 4, 2020 explosion so-called “immunity” clauses in the claims Tehran denies. The MT Mercer protect its security and national inter- between Turkey and Qatar. — AFP at the Beirut port killed more than constitution. “They are simply trying Street, managed by prominent Zionist ests, and will immediately and deci- 200 people and destroyed swathes of to evade justice,” said lawyer Youssef billionaire Eyal Ofer, was attacked on sively respond to any possible adven- 30% cannot afford holiday the capital. It devastated its dockside Lahoud, who represents hundreds of Thursday off Oman. turism,” ministry spokesman harbor, where the initial fire had bro- blast victims. A British security guard and a Khatibzadeh said in a statement. BRUSSELS: Some 28 percent of people living ken out, and was felt as far as Cyprus. Despite such obstacles, Tarek Bitar, Romanian crewmember were killed in He dismissed the US and Britain’s in the European Union cannot afford to go away Authorities said 2,750 tons of the judge leading the investigation, what the United States, Britain and statements as “contradictory”, and on holiday for a week, according to a study pub- ammonium nitrate fertilizer haphazard- has completed more than 75 percent the vessel’s operator Zodiac Maritime said “if they have any evidence to lished yesterday by the European Trade Union ly stocked in a port warehouse since of the case, said a judicial source said appeared to be a drone strike. support their baseless claims, they Confederation. For those with income at or 2014 had caught fire, causing one of familiar with the probe. “He almost British Prime Minister Boris Johnson should provide them”. Khatibzadeh below the “at-risk-of-poverty threshold” - history’s largest non-nuclear explo- has a full picture of what happened,” said yesterday Iran should face con- also accused them of effectively sup- including “millions” of low-paid workers, pen- sions.