Dr. Ibrahim Al Nuaimi (left), and Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal, addressing the press conference yesterday.
Doha: 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 that the measures put in place have succeeded in lowering the number of new daily cases over the past few months.
Schools have implemented all necessary measures to ensure safety of students and around 98.5 percent of teachers and school staff were tested negative in a test done by the Ministry of Public Health. He said that random COVID-19 tests for students will be done in September.
The success is due to the combined efforts of the government and members of the public, he said in a press conference held yesterday on COVID-19.
Most of the cases of infection during the last period were found within the same family, which often came from one of its members, he said adding that the infection rate per hundred tests during August ranged between 1-2 percent, which is low. It means that only 1 to 2 persons, out of 100 tests, turned positive during the COVID-19.
Regarding the opening schools, he said: “The blended approach, which is 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 said, while children are not immune to COVID-19, they are extremely unlikely to experience severe symptoms of the virus and their safety is always our first priority.
Dr. Al Khal mentioned that random COVID-19 tests will be carried on students going back to schools in September. “With a maximum of 30 percent of children in school each day, in addition to supporting preventive measures, we are confident that everything is in place to enable children to safely return to schools,” he affirmed.
“We are seeing that 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,” Dr Al Khal added. “We have seen incidences of large scale family gatherings and celebrations with more than 100 people. The mass gatherings put many people at risk and risk undermining all the efforts that have been done to combat the virus to date”.
About the fourth phase, Al Khal pointed out that the start of Phase 4 will again open new facilities and offer people more freedom, but it is important to remember that the further lifting of restrictions does not mean that the virus has disappeared and the threat to our health has gone.
