The National Taskforce for Combating the Coronavirus (COVID-19) today held a press conference at the Crown Prince Centre for Training and Medical Research at the Bahrain Defence Force Hospital, to highlight measures taken to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Dr. Waleed Khalifa Al Manea, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Health and member of the National Taskforce for Combating the Coronavirus (COVID-19), began by highlighting the newly adopted 4-level COVID-19 Alert Level Traffic Light System, as follows:

• Green: when average percentage of new cases to tests carried out is below 2% for 14 days.

• Yellow: when the average percentage of new cases to tests carried out is between 2 – 5 % for 7 days.

• Orange: when average percentage of new cases to tests carried out is between 5% and less than 8% for 4 days

• Red: when the average percentage of new cases to tests carried out is 8% or more for 3 days.

HE Dr. Al Manea noted that Bahrain will move to the yellow level on 2 July 2021 in accordance with the assessment of the average percentage of new cases to numbers of tests over the last 14 days.

HE Dr. Al Manea indicated that moving from a higher alert level to a lower one would require staying at the same level for a period of no less than a week, but moving up from a lower alert level to a higher one can be immediate. For example, it would be possible to directly move from the green to the red level without going through the yellow and orange levels if the data indicated the need to.

HE Dr. Al Manea noted that some dates may be designated by the National Medical Taskforce at higher alert levels if deemed necessary to the health and safety of all.

HE Dr. Al Manea underlined the 88% drop in active cases from 26,883 cases on May 27 to 3,188 on 30 June, stressing the importance of not finding false comfort in the data when adherence to precautionary measures was still needed.

Speaking on treatment, HE Lt. Col. Manaf Al Qahtani, Infectious Disease Consultant & Microbiologist at the BDF Hospital and member of the National Medical Taskforce for Combating the Coronavirus (COVID-19), noted that Bahrain had added "Sotrovimab-VIR-7831" to its COVID-19 treatment guidelines following emergency use approval by the US Federal and Drug Administration (FDA) as well as a comprehensive review of the company's clinical trials.

“Sotrovimab-VIR-7831” develops “monoclonal antibodies” and will be used to treat infected adults over the age of 12, weighing at least 40 kg, with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms who are at risk of their condition deteriorating and resulting in hospitalisation.

HE Dr. Al Qahtani stated that to date over 223 patients have successfully completed the treatment, which attacks the spike of the virus to bar entry into human cells in about 60 minutes.

The Consultant of Infectious and Internal Diseases at Salmaniya Medical Complex, Dr. Jameela Al Salman, concluded by reiterating the pivotal role vaccination and a strong commitment to precautionary measures plays in reducing the spread of COVID-19.

Dr. Jameela also emphasized the importance of booster shots in maximizing immunity against new variants.

Dr. Al-Salman went on to warn the public of the dangers of the new Delta variant, paying particular attention to the danger it posed to adolescents aged 12 to 17, and outlined vaccination as the only safe and effective means to building immunity and that this was supported by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Dr. Al Salman expressed her appreciation to parents who were proactive in vaccinating their children as registration turnout had now reached 49%.