Coronavirus infections are surging in the Gulf Arab state of Oman, where health officials have warned that hospitals now face an acute shortage of beds amid a lagging vaccine rollout, the spread of highly transmissible variants and relaxed movement restrictions.

The influx of severe infections has forced overwhelmed hospitals nationwide to turn away patients, local media reported. The main Covid-19 field hospital in Muscat, the capital, surpassed 90 per cent occupancy and its intensive care beds are now completely full, said the state-run Omani News Agency.

Dr Nabil bin Muhammed al-Lawait, the Muscat field hospital director, told state-run media that officials were scrambling to increase hospital capacity and staff to handle the spike in critically ill patients.

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