Kuwait, Qatar COVID-19 daily cases soar past previous highs

Kuwait, Qatar COVID-19 daily cases soar past previous highs

DOHA: Daily coronavirus infection rates reported by Kuwait and Qatar have soared past previous peaks recorded in the summers of 2021 and 2020 respectively, as cases rise across all Gulf states. Kuwait on Sunday reported 2,999 new cases of COVID-19, its fourth day of case numbers exceeding a high of 1,993 seen in July last year. Kuwait had seen below 50 daily cases during the last quarter of 2021. Qatar, with a population of around 2.8 million, on Saturday reported 3,487 new cases — almost 10 percent of those tested — outpacing a previous high of 2,355 seen in May 2020. On Saturday, Qatar reintroduced a set of rules limiting home gatherings to 10 vaccinated people, barring unvaccinated people from entering malls and restaurants and reducing capacity limits for some commercial establishments. Schools in Qatar have reintroduced distance learning until at least January 27. To relieve pressure on Qatar’s testing infrastructure authorities on Wednesday urged travelers and some symptomatic people to take rapid antigen tests, which don’t need to be processed in a laboratory, rather than PCR tests. It also opened a new 10-lane drive-through PCR testing station to sample up to 5,000 people a day. Saudi Arabia, the largest