The government has urged the public to follow all COVID-19 precautions to avoid a second wave of infections in the country.
Qatar has been recognised globally for successfully containing the COVID-19 and maintaining one of the world’s lowest fatality rates. On December 21, citizens and residents could breathe easy as the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) announced that the total number of active cases was below 2,000 and 1,989 were under treatment. Still, the number of active cases increased to 5,068 yesterday.
The last few days have seen a steady increase in the number of active COVID-19 cases in Qatar.
On its Twitter account, the Government Communications Office (GCO) said: “Qatar has experienced a recent increase in positive COVID-19 cases due to insufficient adherence to precautionary measures. Keep your family and community safe by continuing to observe measures that help Qatar combat the virus and avoid a second wave.”
Also stressing the message, the MoPH, through its social media platforms, has reiterated that citizens and residents should adhere to the precautions.
“Recently in Qatar, we have seen a gradual but worrying increase in the number of new daily COVID-19 infections. It is more important than ever that people adhere to preventive measures,” the MoPH said through its social media accounts.
The MoPH has reminded the public to always wear a mask when going outside, maintain at least 1.5 metres of distance from others, avoid crowded places, limit time in enclosed areas and wash hands regularly.
To recall, Chair of the National Health Strategic Group on COVID-19, Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal, cautioned the public on increasing new cases.
“Worldwide, many countries are now experiencing second or third waves of the virus which are stronger than their first waves that happened during 2020. Over the past month in Qatar, we have seen a gradual and consistent increase in new daily infections. Additionally, and of great concern, is the increase since mid-December in both the number of people with COVID-19 in hospital and the number of people in ICU,” he said.
“The data over the next few days and week will tell us more, but these increases appear to be the early signs of a potential second wave in Qatar. For this reason, it is more important than ever that people adhere to preventive measures to cut off the second wave before it gains momentum."
