A 70-YEAR-OLD Bahraini man has become the fifth Covid-19 fatality, as 55 new cases were registered in the country yesterday, writes the GDN's Raji Unnikrishnan.

The Health Ministry said last night that the Bahraini man had underlying health conditions before he contracted the coronavirus.

“The deceased male had underlying diseases and health conditions and was placed in isolation and received extensive 24-hour treatment from a specialised medical team,” it said.

The ministry also expressed its heartfelt condolences to the man’s family.

The four other deaths, which were reported last month, were also among Bahrainis. A 78-year-old man died on March 27 after contracting the virus through contact with an infected person in the country.

The rest all contracted the virus while in Iran; a 65-year-old man died on March 24 while two women, aged 51 and 65, died on March 22 and March 16 respectively.

The ministry also announced 55 new cases of Covid-19 yesterday, of which 41 were expatriate men from a labour accommodation in Hidd.

This means the number of active cases is 351, of which three remain critical.

Seven more people recovered and were discharged from treatment and isolation facilities yesterday, taking the number of recoveries to 465.

Additionally, six more people left the precautionary quarantine facilities after completing the 14 days and all laboratory tests to clear them of the infection.

The total number to leave quarantine facilities so far is 532.

According to the ministry’s website dedicated to Covid-19, the total number of people tested in the country has reached 50,320.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Faeqa Al Saleh said last night during a Press briefing that there were 1,699 bed spaces at public isolation facilities, of which 345 are occupied, while there are 172 beds in private sector facilities, of which four are occupied.

Whereas public quarantine centres have 2,504 beds, of which 947 are occupied, and there are 321 beds in the private facilities, of which 94 are occupied.

The minister added that tests are also being conducted on a large scale while people can visit the integrated facility at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre to get themselves checked.