Kuwait steps up precautions after Omicron cases

Kuwait is feeling a need for more workers in the graveyards to cope with pressure resulting from the global COVID-19, a municipal official has disclosed.

Head of the Funeral Department at the Kuwait Municipality Faisal Al Awadi said there was a need for grave diggers, performers of ritual washing of the dead and other related foreign workers.

No specific figures were immediately available on the vacancies or remunerations.

Free food supplies will be distributed to all frontline workers in Kuwait - including Kuwaitis, Gulf citizens, Bidoon, and expat employees of ministries of Health and Interior, local media reported.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said free food supplies will be given out as KD50 million had been allocated to cover the costs, Al Qabas newspaper said.

The sources said about 91,000 employees are covered by the free ration reward for 6 months, are believed to be about 91,000 beneficiaries (workers of all nationalities from the ministries of Health and Interior, and their eligible dependents, which takes the total number of people benefitting from free ration to more than 400,000).

Health Ministry Spokesman Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad said the new cases have been isolated, adding the ministry has taken all necessary precautionary measures and launched an investigation into the cases.

Dr Sanad stressed the need to implement home quarantine for all passengers arriving in Kuwait and strictly implementing health measures and other preventive procedures. He called on public to complete their vaccinations including the third booster dose, avoid unsafe gatherings, observe safe distances and continue sanitizing hands. He also advised the public to take seasonal winter vaccinations.