MUSCAT: Representatives of the Medical Response and Health Sector held a coordination meeting on Wednesday to rally efforts to secure public health in the aftermath of the tropical cyclone Shaheen.
The National Committee for Emergency Management (NCEM) gave directives to mobilise the public health sector, being part of the Medical Response and Health Sector, by securing the safety of potable water and food supplies. The process also includes ensuring a healthy discharge of wastewater, making speedy disposal of corpses of dead animals, enhancing epidemiological surveillance activities and combating disease vectors.
Sub-committees tasked with medical response and public health in the governorates of the Sultanate are coordinating efforts to check drinking water and the safety of foodstuff, besides combating disease vectors.
The Medical Response and Health Sector advises citizens and residents to exercise caution when consuming foodstuff as some places were hit power outages for a long time and to get rid of stagnant water within their premises.
Meanwhile, the teams of the Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance (ACDA) tasked with search, rescue, firefighting and ambulance, handled 410 mayday reports during the tropical cyclone Shaheen in the governorates of North Al Batinah, South Al Batinah, Al Dakhiliyah, Al Dhahirah and North Al Sharqiyah.
As part of the mission, ACDA teams responded to a variety of reports and humanitarian cases, including 221 reports of stranded people, submerged homes and cars caught unawares in the course of wadis.
Medical emergency response teams handled 73 reports while firefighting squads tackled 89 fire incidents. Other teams dealt with a different set of reports, among them 6 about landslides, 3 about fallen trees, 1 about hazardous leaks and another 17 different reports.
Some 607 people received the services of ACDA, supported by other sectors of the National Committee for Emergency Management.
The ACDA urges all members of the public to exercise caution and keep away from dams and avoid swimming in wadis and ponds. Children should never be left unattended, said the ACDA.
EASE IMPACT
The Central Bank of Oman has announced a number of stimulus packages aimed at alleviating the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“In view of the current economic scenario and in continuation of previously issued instructions”, the Central Bank of Oman has issued further directives, to banks and finance and leasing companies, “to extend the grace period for repayment to borrowers in certain categories”.
In its directives to banks and finance leasing companies, the apex bank said, “the procedures and incentives are aimed at containing the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the lives of individuals and institutional borrowers”.
Accordingly, Omani citizens laid off from work will be eligible for deferment of installment until December 31, 2022 or “until the borrower concerned obtains another job, whichever is earlier, with the suspension of charging any interests during the deferment period”.
The second category will be Omani employees with reduced wages. Affected borrowers in this category will get deferment of instalments, interests, and profits during this period.
“They will get the benefit of suspension of charging any interest during the deferment period and along with permission to exceed the debt burden ratio”, the bank said in the announcement.
