QATAR has announced a new travel policy as the country gradually lifts the restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Starting August 1, the authorities have allowed incoming travellers from 40 countries classified as lowrisk. Doing away with the mandatory hotel quarantine which was announced earlier for all incoming passengers, travellers from the low-risk countries will take a coronavirus test at the airport and will have to quarantine themselves at their homes for a week.
They will take another test at a government health center after a week in quarantine and if they test negative, their quarantine will end. People from countries not included in the low-risk list but where there are accredited COVID-19 testing centers can also return to Qatar, provided they have a coronavirus-free test result from one of the accredited labs, taken not more than 48 hours before the travel. These arrivals too will have to observe a one-week home quarantine and take a test thereafter.
Travellers from countries which are neither included in the low-risk list, nor are there accredited labs, must stay in a quarantine hotel for a week, after which they will take a COVID-19 test and will observe a further one-week home quarantine if the test is negative.
The list of low-risk countries will be reviewed every two weeks. Qatari citizens, their spouses and children and permanent residency holders can travel from and to Qatar at any time, provided they adhere to the aforementioned procedures as per the status of the countries they are returning from. The government has also allowed the residents to return to Qatar after obtaining government permission through the Qatar Portal website.
The costs of quarantine for blue-collar workers in private sector and domestic workers will be borne by their employers. Taking needs of the elderly and the sick into the consideration, the government has exempted those over 55 years of age, or suffering from a number of diseases or disability, and pregnant women from hotel quarantine. People in these categories will observe home quarantine, irrespective of the country they are coming from.
The new travel policy comes as the country has successfully contained the spread of the pandemic. Qatar’s effective response has seen a steady fall in the new virus cases in recent weeks. There are only around 3,000 currently active COVID-19 cases in the country with close to 105,000 recovered cases. Qatar has also maintained one of the world’s lowest mortality rates from COVID-19.
