KUWAIT: The safety and health of Kuwaiti nationals is of the utmost priority, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anas Al-Saleh said yesterday, amid growing concerns over the coronavirus outbreak. As he visited his fellow compatriots at the Khairan Resort; one of the country's designated quarantine facilities housing patients suspected of having been infected with the pneumonia-causing virus, the minister conveyed to them the Kuwaiti leadership's warmest greetings, chief among them His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

He praised Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) for its "prompt" response to the public health crisis, giving equal credit to interior ministry personnel for their sacrifices for the good of the nation and its people. All of the quarantined patients are generally healthy and have not shown any symptoms associated with coronavirus, said Health Minister Dr Basel Al-Sabah, who revealed that a fourth quarantine facility has now opened to take in travelers coming from Iraq.

A coronavirus prevention plan the health ministry has formed is progressing smoothly, he added, saying that the current situation does not yet warrant panic. Highlighting the ministers' visits to the quarantine facilities, KRCS secretary general Dr Maha Al-Barjes heaped praise on the health ministry for the stringent measures it has imposed to contain this outbreak. - KUNA