On the third day of Eid, after having finished the formalities of visiting grandparents, many families take the day as a free day . Amusement parks, cinemas and restaurants are extremely booked on the third day, more so than during the two days preceding it. Early in the morning, a family of two parents and three kids arrive at a drive-thru ATM machine. All five of them are wearing paper masks. The reason? You guessed right: fear of contracting the swine flu virus.

The father, Abu Abdullah Al-Dhafeeri, a 40-something employee at a ministry, explained that especially after a cousin, a neighbor and co-worker caught the virus, he became concerned with the safety of his family. "We have to be very careful; it is a virus that is really everywhere you turn.

Al-Dhafeeri's youngest son, Barrak, is not going to kindergarten this year. His mother put in: "I don't mind if he stays at home this year, at least I know he is safe. All the Gulf countries are starting school in December to take safety measures, except for Kuwait. Why? I don't care about my son's education as much as I care about his health; this is a crisis.

The virus has claimed seven lives in Kuwait, with over 2,400 individuals registered as infected. While schools are taking precautions to fight this virus, many parents still object to the fact that their children must go back to school soon. The virus, which is known to spread through physical contact, notably affected the number of worshippers in the Grand Mosque on Laylat Al-Qadr last Thursday.

In many supermarkets, hand-sanitizing lotions and disposable masks are available in abundance and placed near the cashiers' registers for consumers' convenience. "The management of the supermarket told us to place them here. They also brought new stocks and many customers are demanding sanitizing gel in bulk," tells me Abdu, an Egyptian worker at a local co-op in Qurain.

Wafaa Taheri, a 29-year old Iranian expat living in Kuwait says that the measures taken by the government to curb the effects of the virus are very comforting. "People are scared and they want to hear that everything will be OK. When we watch the news or read the papers, a lot of them make it sound very scary. It is a crisis. It is not exactly fatal; it is always good to take precautions," she says. She adds that keeping one's hands clean and being careful when sneezing or coughing are very important and
a lot of people have taken to paying attention to these things recently.

Riyad Al-Bunayyan, a Kuwaiti university student, believes that the country is in quite an awkward position. "We have a lot of people who do not believe in the healthcare system in Kuwait. So of course there will be a lot of panicking going on. If on normal days the system fails to serve the citizens and the expats living in Kuwait, do you think people will believe in it at times of crisis?" Riyad says he is prepared to fight the virus. With hand sanitizers, lots of tissues and a few disposable masks in hi
s bag, he explains that he is well-prepared to live his everyday life without any worries. "At the end of the day, it is only going to last for a short time. Once it's over, everything is going to be alright," he concluded on an optimistic note.

Kuwaittimes