The new number of conronavirus cases in Qatar yesterday was 750. That’s the fifth consecutive day of declining numbers of new COVID-19 patients in the country.
In fact, the numbers of new cases this past week have been something like this: June 22: 1,034 cases; June 23: 1,176 cases; June 24: 1,199 cases; June 25: 1,060 cases; June 26: 946 cases; June 27: 879 cases and June 28: 750 cases. The data provided by Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) showed yesterday 1,477 people had staged a complete recovery before being discharged in the last 24 hours.
Overall, 78,702 people have recovered in the last three or fourth months. Overall Qatar has tested 349,153 residents. The downward spiral in the number of new cases or in the tally of those who have recovered has not come about by chance.
The medical protocols established by MoPH three months ago and the strict implementation of the social distancing rules have been largely responsible in Qatar being able to slow the spread of the disease.
Traffic these days, especially around sunset time, remains low as residents avoid stepping out unnecessarily and that too has helped immensely. Following detailed analysis and research, Qatar relaxed the COVID-19 restrictions by allowing people to visit shopping malls from June 15, the time of the first stage of the four-tier campaign to take the country back to where it was before pandemic swept the entire globe.
The MoPH yesterday once again underlined the importance of residents sticking to the health guidelines issued by the government. The Ministry said though the numbers were gradually declining but a second wave could take shape if residents failed to obey the guidelines on social distancing and not maintaining personal hygiene like washing hands and using face masks every time they stepped out of their homes or offices.
The use of Ehteraz app on every adult resident’s cellphone has also been a significant help to the authorities in maintaining a track record on who’s well and safe from the virus. Every visitor to a shopping mall, to a bank and or even while entering a Mosque has to show their current health status on their Ehteraz app.
On Saturday, Qatar pledged $10m to the World Health Organization (WHO) ‘to support the finding of testing equipment, treatment, and vaccine for the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)’.
Two weeks ago Qatar pledged $20m to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI)’ initiative. Qatar’s handling of the COVID-19 situation - internally and externally - is praise worthy.
