ShareMPs urge pension agency to delay repayment
By B Izzak
KUWAIT: Kuwait has begun the repatriation of thousands of
nationals stranded abroad due to coronavirus restrictions, with the first
chartered flight expected to have arrived yesterday.
The repatriation will continue until Sunday and will include
flights from the United States, Britain, France, Italy and a number of Arab
countries where some 60,000 citizens are living, who were barred from returning
because of the halt of flights and the
lack of enough quarantine sites.
The first flights were to arrive from the UAE, Bahrain and
Egypt. A chartered flight will be operated on Friday to bring back Kuwaitis
from Italy.
The health ministry said all arriving passengers will be
sent to quarantine for at least 14 days, during which they will be subjected to
coronavirus tests.
The health ministry announced yesterday four new cases of
the coronavirus, raising the number to 195, while the health ministry said four
more cases had recovered, bringing the number of cured cases to 43. At present,
153 cases are receiving treatment, of whom six are in the intensive care unit,
two of whom are in critical condition, according to health ministry spokesman
Abdullah Al-Sanad.
The new cases belong to a Kuwaiti returning from Britain, a
Kuwaiti who had returned from Saudi Arabia, a Filipina and a Bangladeshi - the
ministry is still investigating the source of their infection. Over 700 people
have been discharged from quarantines.
The government meanwhile established a special coronavirus
fund to receive donations from private sector establishments to assist in the
fight against the deadly disease. Donors have already pledged over KD 10
million to the fund.
Local banks have decided to defer the payment of
installments for various types of loans for six months of Kuwaiti debtors.
Kuwait Petroleum Corp has also decided to delay payment of loan installments of
its employees for six months.
MPs yesterday urged the public pension agency to follow the
same step and delay the payment of installments for six months. MP Ali
Al-Deqbasi demanded that the agency forgive the loans given to pensioners.
