The COVID-19 pandemic in Oman was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached Oman on 24 February 2020 when two citizens tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from Iran. As of 21 August 2021, the total number of cases registered in the sultanate is 300,914, of which 289,450 have recovered and 4,020 have died. Initially, most of the cases and deaths occurred in the expatriate community. By July 2020, as the pandemic entered its fourth month in the country, most of the cases and deaths had occurred among the citizens.
Muscat continues to be the most affected governorate with the highest number of confirmed cases at over 149,383 and 1,354 deaths, and accounted for 76% of the total cases in the country by early June 2020, with most of the cases being in the expatriate community. On 10 April 2020, the entire governorate was put under lockdown until 22 April, this was extended twice, with the lockdown being lifted on 29 May.
Starting 13 June 2020, lockdowns were imposed in the governorate of Dhofar, the wilayat of Masirah, the wilayat of Duqm and the areas of Jebel Akhdar and Jebel Shams until 3 July 2020. Various national level lockdowns and movement bans have since been imposed over the course of the pandemic.
As per directives issued by Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, COVID-19 tests and treatment were initially free for all communities of the sultanate, including expatriates. As of August 2021, Oman has vaccinated a total of 66% of its populations in terms of both first and second doses administered.
Background
On 12 January, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan, Hubei, China, who had initially come to the attention of the WHO on 31 December 2019.
Unlike SARS of 2003, the case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.
Timeline
February 2020
On 24 February, the first two cases of COVID-19 were confirmed. These cases involved two Omani women who had returned from Iran. On 27 February, the number of cases in Oman increased to 6. The cases were also linked to recent travel to Iran.
March 2020
To prevent community infections, the country placed 2,367 people under quarantine in early March. Most of the people were under domestic quarantine while 49 were in institutional quarantine. By mid March, the total number of cases in the country were 22. On 16 March, the Royal Hospital in the capital stopped treatment services provided for routine non-emergency cases until further notice.
The total number of cases surged over 100 on 26 March, Dr. Mohammed bin Said Al Hosni, Undersecretary of Ministry of Health stated in an interview that the country had "entered the community transmission stage of coronavirus and we expect to see the numbers increase over the coming period." The government announced the same day that any individuals on a residency permit, visit, business or any short term visas need not worry about expiry-related issues. Due to the pandemic, they would not be subject to any fines or legal actions regarding overstaying in the country. On 28 March, 255 Omanis comprising students, tourists, and business people were airlifted from Jordan in two special planes to return home.
Two banks in the sultanate, Bank Dhofar and the National Bank of Oman each pledged a contribution of OMR 1 million in support of the health services fighting against the spread of the novel coronavirus in Oman in late March, while Bank Nizwa pledged OMR 600,000 of which OMR 3000,000 was set aside for the Ministry of Health.
By the end of the month, 7,646 suspect cases were put under home quarantine including citizens and expatriates, and the sultanate had registered a total of 192 confirmed cases with 34 recoveries and no deaths. The capital city, Muscat, remained the region with the highest number of cases with over 100 cases.
April 2020
On 1 April, the first death due to coronavirus was recorded in the country. The patient was a 72-year-old Omani citizen in Muscat, and the number of confirmed cases in the country crossed over 200. Also on the day, Al Nahda Hospital in the capital, Muscat announced the suspension of all outpatient appointments and surgical appointments until further notice. The wilayat of Muttrah was isolated from other parts of Muscat the same day due to a sharp increase in the number of cases. The Sultan's Armed Forces (SAF) and Royal Oman Police (ROP) started to enforce joint checkpoints on the roads linking the entrances and exits of the sultanate's governorates the same day. These were halted on 28 April.
Muttrah became the worst affected wilayat (province) of the governorate and the country as it held 45% of the total confirmed cases of the country mostly due to local transmissions, and hence was isolated on 1 April 2020.
The Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) decided to implement e-learning on 2 April starting from 12 April. Oman LNG pledged RO6 million to support the national health sector and Ministry of Health to stem the pandemic in Oman on 5 April. A total of OMR 2 million of this was contributed to the fund set up by the Supreme Committee. The same day, the Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP), in coordination with commercial centers, launched an initiative called 'Sallat al Khair', aimed at helping families whose lives have been affected by the measures to combat COVID-19. Under the initiative, 19 different commodities to meet the basic weekly consumer needs were provided in one basket for OMR 9.
The youngest patient in the country, a one-and-half-year-old baby boy recovered and was discharged from the hospital on 7 April. On 8 April, the total number of confirmed cases crossed 400. As most of them were in the capital city of Muscat, the Supreme Committee decided to put it under lockdown from 10 April to 22 April. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported the same day that around 3,000 Omani citizens had returned from various countries so far and another 600 are also to return soon. By the end of the 'return campaign' implemented as per directives of the Supreme Committee, a total of 3,746 willing Omanis were brought back from different countries. This marked the end of the campaign as the remaining Omanis abroad had preferred to stay in their respective host countries.
On 9 April, the Minister of Health, Dr Ahmed al Saeedi announced that as per directives issued by Sultan Haitham, COVID-19 tests and treatment were made absolutely free for all communities of the sultanate, including expatriates. It was also declared that no legal action would be taken for individuals whose visas or resident permits had expired. Mass testing was also started from 11 April. The tally reached 457 on the day and the Ministry of Health disclosed that the highest percentage of local transmission had occurred in Muttrah, with a total of 206 cases recorded in the district alone. The national tally crossed 500 on 11 April when 62 new confirmed cases were recorded. The total number of cases stood at 546. The Ministry of Health reported on 14 April that it had successfully performed a procedure of convalescent plasma extraction and transfusion from people who had recovered from COVID-19 as a treatment option for the critically ill.
The total number of confirmed cases surged over 1,000 to 1,019 when 109 new cases were reported on 16 April. Also on the day, the commercial market area adjoining the main hospital in the wilayat (province) of Jalan Bani Bu Ali in Ash Sharqiyah South Governorate was locked down until further notice after 12 cases were confirmed due to community transmission. The Minister of Health, Dr Ahmed al Saeedi stated the same day that the sultanate could reach the peak of the outbreak during late April where 500 cases per day would be expected. He also revealed that most of the cases were in the expatriate community at over 600 and that the current mortality rate of COVID-19 in the country was at 0.04%. Between 16 and 17 April, around 350 Pakistani prisoners in Oman were repatriated to Pakistan via special flights after the Sultan had pardoned them.
86 new cases were confirmed on 19 April, most of these, 71, were expatriates. With this, the number of cases in Muscat crossed 1,000 and the total cases around the sultanate stood at 1,266. The Sultan's Armed Forces, with the help of the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO), operated a number of navy ships to the Musandam Governorate for shipping fuel tankers as well as essential commodities and staple foods for the citizens and residents on 19 April.
As the cases in Muscat grew over 1,100 in late April, the supreme committee extend the lockdown of the governorate until 8 May, while also declaring a nationwide ban on all social, sporting and cultural gatherings and activities during the month of Ramadan. The Ministry of Health reported that a total of 36,000 tests had been conducted by 27 April.
The supreme committee announced new decisions on 28 April for restarting of some commercial businesses effective from the day. These included vehicle repair and rental shops, stationary stores, and electrical appliances shops among others. The Supreme Committee held its fifth e-press-conference on 30 April and revealed that the number of cases was high in the Al Batinah South governorate due to community transmission, stating that a single case had transmitted the virus among dozens. It also informed that an expatriate had left the Muscat governorate for another governorate and hence had caused over 50 infections in the latter.
By the end of the month, more than 40,400 tests had been conducted around the country, there were a total of 2,348 confirmed cases with 495 recoveries and 11 deaths. Majority of the cases, 62% were in the expatriate community while the local population accounted for 38%. At a total of 1,668 cases, Muscat had the highest number of cases among all the governorates.
May 2020
On 4 May, the Wadi Kabir Industrial Area in the governorate of Muscat was closed down until further notice. On 5 May, the supreme committee extended the ongoing lockdown in Muscat from its scheduled end on 8 May to 29 May. A decision to end the 2019–2020 school year was also issued, so that May 7, 2020 would be the last day of the school year. The Ministry of Health also confirmed on that day that some of the cases in the country had occurred from home deliveries.
The first death outside the Muscat governorate was reported on 5 May, in the North Batina governorate. The total confirmed cases in the Muscat governorate surpassed over 2,000 on 6 May. On 8 May, the total number of recoveries crossed 1,000. The total tally of confirmed cases in the sultanate surged over 5,000 on 16 May.
A press conference held by the supreme committee outlined various punishments and fines for violators of guidelines which had been issued so far, including imprisonment for all violators for 48 hours. It was also announced that 25 patients had received plasma treatment so far of which 18 had recovered. The Minister of Health stated that the fatality rate was higher in the expatriate community as they reached hospitals later. On 22 May, the total number of cases in Muscat governorate surpassed over 5,000, while the cases crossed over 1,000 in two of its wilayat, Baushar and Seeb.
The total number of cases surpassed over 10,000 on 30 May. Lockdown in Muscat was lifted on 29 May but the wilayat of Muttrah remained isolated with various checkpoints in place per decisions taken by the supreme committee.
Oman recorded more than 1,000 new cases in a single since the beginning of the outbreak on 31 May, the record being 1,014. At the end of the month, the total number of cases stood at 11,437, of which a total of 2,396 had recovered while 49 had died, while over 100,000 tests had been conducted.
June 2020
On 1 June, as the total cases in Oman crossed 12,000, the health minister stated that the rise in cases over the past few days was due to various Ramadan and Eid gatherings, saying, "if you look at the figures, the cases began to increase during the second half of Ramadan and then it just shot up during Eid because people are flouting the social distancing rules and they are still gathering."
The total number of cases in the Muscat governorate crossed 10,000 on 3 June, accounting for 75.8% of the total cases in Oman by this day. By early June 2020, over 5,000 cases had been reported in Muttrah alone. The wilayat remained under isolation even after the lockdown in the Muscat governorate was lifted.
The sanitary isolation in the wilayat of Muttrah was lifted in most of its parts on 6 June. Five new places in the country were placed under lockdown on 13 June, the governorate of Dhofar, the wilayat of Masirah, the wilayat of Duqm and the areas of Jebel Akhdar and Jebel Shams until 3 July. Data reported by the Ministry of Health until 9 June showed that majority of the COVID-19 cases and deaths due to it have been reported in the expatriate community. Of the total 18,198 cases reported in the country by that day, 11,107 or 61% were among expatriates, while of the total 83 deaths, 53 were expatriates.
The supreme committee allowed a number of commercial activities and services to reopen on 10 June. At a press conference held by the supreme committee on 11 June, it was revealed that the rate of the spread of infection in the wilayat of Muttrah had decreased from 60% to 35%.