During a 28 April press conference of the National Taskforce for Combating the Corona Virus it was announced that there were 1,556 ongoing cases of COVID-19 in Bahrain, with 1,246 people declared to be fully recovered from the virus.
The majority of Coronavirus cases have been relatively mild, with only two individuals currently receiving treatment in intensive care units. However, there have been eight deaths to date. Health experts believe that Bahrain is increasingly succeeding in flattening the curve of new cases.
Capacity has progressively been expanded to cope with the virus, including quarantine centres capable of absorbing 2,474 cases. Public buses have also been converted into mobile testing units as part of an initiative to ensure that there is a continuing systematic programme of testing throughout the Kingdom. Furthermore, the multi-storey car park of a military hospital was recently converted into a 130-bed intensive care unit in order to make emergency capacity available.
A high proportion of cases have been logged among the expat labourer population who tend to live in relatively crowded conditions. According to latest statistics, there have been 1,909 expat labourers identified as being infected. However, there have been special efforts to provide food and assistance to this demographic. For example, the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) has undertaken to provide food for over 7,000 labourers.
It has been announced that non-essential shops will remain closed until at least May 7. However, the Ministry of Commerce has launched an online eMall (mall.bh) portal for providing support to local businesses throughout the duration of the crisis.
There have been ongoing efforts to repatriate Bahrainis stranded overseas. So far more than 3,800 citizens have been evacuated from a variety of countries around the world. However, an estimated 2,544 remain overseas. The authorities aim to have completed these evacuations by 7 May.