MPs urge pension agency to delay repayment
By B Izzak
KUWAIT: Kuwait has begun the repatriation of thousands ofnationals stranded abroad due to coronavirus restrictions, with the firstchartered flight expected to have arrived yesterday.
The repatriation will continue until Sunday and will includeflights from the United States, Britain, France, Italy and a number of Arabcountries where some 60,000 citizens are living, who were barred from returningbecause of the halt of flights and thelack of enough quarantine sites.
The first flights were to arrive from the UAE, Bahrain andEgypt. A chartered flight will be operated on Friday to bring back Kuwaitisfrom Italy.
The health ministry said all arriving passengers will besent to quarantine for at least 14 days, during which they will be subjected tocoronavirus tests.
The health ministry announced yesterday four new cases ofthe coronavirus, raising the number to 195, while the health ministry said fourmore 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 spokesmanAbdullah Al-Sanad.
The new cases belong to a Kuwaiti returning from Britain, aKuwaiti who had returned from Saudi Arabia, a Filipina and a Bangladeshi - theministry is still investigating the source of their infection. Over 700 peoplehave been discharged from quarantines.
The government meanwhile established a special coronavirusfund to receive donations from private sector establishments to assist in thefight against the deadly disease. Donors have already pledged over KD 10million to the fund.
Local banks have decided to defer the payment ofinstallments for various types of loans for six months of Kuwaiti debtors.Kuwait Petroleum Corp has also decided to delay payment of loan installments ofits employees for six months.
MPs yesterday urged the public pension agency to follow thesame step and delay the payment of installments for six months. MP AliAl-Deqbasi demanded that the agency forgive the loans given to pensioners.