Qatar announces further measures to contain the spread of COVID-19

Qatar announced additional measures today to ensure the population remains at a low risk of being affected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Her Excellency Lolwah bint Rashid Al-Khater, Spokesperson for the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management, announced the latest preventive measures implemented by the State of Qatar to limit the spread of COVID-19.

All shops will remain closed and commercial activities will be suspended on Fridays and Saturdays

All shops will remain shut every Friday and Saturday. The decision does not apply to food and catering stores, pharmacies and restaurants that provide home deliveries.

Bank Account

Provide all necessary facilities for domestic workers to open bank accounts, including exempting them from the minimum for opening the account

The Shutdown of Industrial Area

The Supreme Committee for Crisis Management: Health and medical efforts are continuing in the closed part of the industrial city in terms of the number of tests, sterilization and disinfection efforts, and the care of its residents.

اللجنة العليا لإدارة الأزمات : هناك خطة افتتاح تدريجي للمنطقة الصناعية بشكل يضمن سلامة المنطقة والمجتمع وعودة نمط الحياة بشكل تدريجي وسيتم الإعلان عنها الأسبوع القادم #جريدة_الراية | #قطر | #لأجل_قطر_كلنا_في_البيت pic.twitter.com/E0sreq1Bky

— الراية القطرية (@alraya_n) April 9, 2020

Coronavirus (COVID-19) update

Earlier today, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) announced that Qatar recorded 166 new cases and 28 new recoveries.

The rise in numbers is due to the amount of testing been done and people returning to the country. The total number of tests conducted in Qatar as of today is 43,144.

People are still not adhering to the rules and adding to the increase in infection in the country.

The ministry calls for solidarity in following the guidelines:

• 86% are among men and only 14% among women.
• Most of them are expats aged between 25-45.
• The percentage of cases discovered outside of quarantine increased to 26% compared to 16% last week. Ministry urges all to abide by all precautions for their safety and that of their families.
• There are 3 locations of the government call center with a capacity of 300 employees and are being coordinated with the relevant authorities to allocate the fourth center.
• 340,541 calls have been made to the hotline, with an average response time of 11 seconds.
• In addition, more than 6.8m educational SMS messages have been sent out in multiple languages.
• 3,775 reports of violations this week.
• 378 companies have been fined.
• Two of the six deaths were not mainly caused by the COVID-19, but rather a different cause.
• Qatar Charity distributed 43,000 food baskets, 94,000 hot meals, 41,000 sanitization packs, and working with 20 ambassadors.
• 197 areas in Industrial area have been sanitized
• 232 labour camps are being taken care of.

Ehteraz App

Soon & after weeks of collaborative work @MOTC_QA @MOPHQatar , an Android & IOS compatible app #EHTERAZ ( Means Precaution?) will be launched.

Helps you & medical teams better identify #COVID19 transmission chains & accelerates medical help. #EHTERAZ_for_My_BenefitANDYours pic.twitter.com/2GADEtOaA8

— لولوة الخاطر Lolwah Alkhater (@Lolwah_Alkhater) April 9, 2020

Ehteraz App for smartphones was launched during the press conference. The application assists in identifying disease transmission chains, alerting contacting individuals and stakeholders to expedite the provision of medical support and prioritizing testing.

For any queries, or concerns related to COVID-19 in Qatar, the public can contact a 24/7 hotline set up by the Ministry. The hotline number is 16000 and is toll-free.

Here's everything you need to know about the virus, including ways to protect yourself. 

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