DOHA: Over 98 per cent of teachers and workers in the educational sector are free from Covid-19 infection, Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal, Chair of the National Strategic Group on COVID-19 and Head of the Infectious Diseases Division at Hamad Medical Corporation, has said.
Addressing a press conference, he said the Ministry of Public Health carried out pre-emptive coronavirus tests on all school personnel and “98.5 per cent were free from infection”.
Al Khal stated the percentage of Covid-19 tests in Qatar ranges from two to four people per day per thousand people, one of the highest rates in the world compared to the population.
He said there has been a big fall in coronavirus infections since the beginning of June. He also stated that most of the infections during the past period resulted from infection within the same family.
“We will one day return to our normal life with the availability of the corona vaccine and Qatar will work to provide vaccinations for community members when it is available,” Al Khal said.
He reminded citizens and residents Covid-19 is still a very real threat and we must not become complacent. He also called on citizens and residents to adhere to the preventive measures to limit the risk of catching the virus, such as wearing masks, maintaining physical distancing and regular hand washing.
“The measures put in place have succeeded in lowering the number of new daily cases over the past few months thanks to the combined efforts of the government and members of the public,” he said.
Al Khal stated: “We are seeing a high proportion of positive cases among Qatari nationals and expat professionals are due to a minority of people within these groups who continue to ignore preventive advice, putting themselves and those around them at risk.”
He said: “We have seen incidences of large-scale family gatherings and celebrations with more than 100 people. These mass gatherings put many people at risk and risk undermining all the efforts that have been done to combat the virus to date.”
“The phased approach to lifting restrictions has worked very well and while we have seen small clusters of cases as a result of people not adhering to the preventive measures, we have not yet seen signs of a second wave. We have opened malls, workplaces, mosques and other public places and people have been able to visit these locations safely, supported by Ehteraz and the preventive measures, and we have not seen any significant spike in the total number of cases,” said the official.
Speaking on the education sector, he said: “The blended approach enabling children to return to school has been carefully planned with all the relevant authorities and all measures are being put in place by schools to ensure the safety of children and reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection.”
He added: “As we know, while children are not Immune from catching Covid-19, they are extremely unlikely to experience severe symptoms of the virus and their safety is always our first priority.”