MOH Has Failed to Control Coronavirus
Ayedh Bin Musaad
Asharq Al-Awsat
It appears that the Ministry of Health has decided to adopt a new media policy in dealing with the issue of coronavirus. Since the first case of coronavirus was discovered, the ministry has shown signs of confusion and contradiction in handling this thorny issue. However, statements recently made by the ministry indicate that it is adopting a new policy toward the illness.
This new policy, however, seems to be somewhat removed from reality. At one point, an official source at the ministry told Al-Watan daily that the ministry asked the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) to contact Sheikh Abdulmajeed Al-Zandani, a well-known Yemeni sheikh. However, the ministry recently denied news reports claiming that it had asked SFDA to contact the sheikh, who had announced that he had discovered a treatment for the illness.
In denying these reports, the ministry stressed that it was working hard with scientific and research bodies all over the world to find a cure for the virus. At another point, it said that the virus could be a biological weapon launched against the Kingdom. Who knows what other surprising statements the ministry has in store for us in the coming days?
The bitter truth that the ministry seems to be trying to deny is that it has failed to control the virus, which has spread again, and also failed to enforce strict anti-virus procedures and protocols in public health facilities. It has also failed to end the ongoing debate about the relationship between camels and the virus and come up with conclusive scientific evidence. It has not even benefited from the experience of countries such as South Korea which eradicated the virus.
The ministry’s statements seem to be aimed at distracting the public from the main issue.