DOHA: Public Health Department Director Dr Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad Al Thani has said the spread of Covid-19 is restricted to certain pockets in Qatar. Speaking on Qatar TV, he said people need to avoid large social gatherings, which would help bring the infection rate under control.
“At social gatherings, the number should be kept to the minimum, for instance 10 persons, because this minimises the chances of spreading infection, and in case of some person got infected, it would be easier to trace the chain of infection rather than in the case of a large gatherings,” he said.
Sheikh Mohamed stated it is easy to take samples from the sewage network in spots where the virus could be potentially present over testing a large number of individuals. “Ashghal and the municipality have helped us in this. The cost of taking samples for tests from public places is much less than checking large numbers of people. The testing focuses on public places and areas of concentration, not private houses.”
He added: “We are in a very promising situation. We had reached below 200 (daily cases) but some people started to go easy on the precautionary measures and had more social gatherings, taking the figure to nearly 300 cases. There is more concentration of Covid-19 cases in some areas. It was more in the Industrial Area during the initial stages and then it eventually dropped.”
He said: “We found the virus on different surfaces, but it was not clear conclusively if it was contagious or not. There are companies claiming they have sterilised all surfaces. However, when we took samples, we found the virus. So, we recommend better sterilisation, especially in health and educational facilities, the airport and crowded places. “The most dangerous thing we have found that if someone gets the infection from his workplace or from a supermarket, he would transmit disease to most of his family members.”
Sheikh Mohamed said Qatar has contacted several agencies to reserve quantities of vaccines as soon as they are available. He stated people in the most vulnerable category would be given priority once the vaccine arrives in Qatar.