Qatar Quick Weekend Edition, a recap of Qatar’s news over the last 7 days. Brought to you in partnership with Marhaba.
Let’s start with last Friday when the The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs extended the probation period for workers, including domestic help, from three months to nine months.
On to Saturday and The Ministry of Public Health announced updates regarding the travel and return policy for COVID-19, effective midday on Monday, August 2nd.
The update affects travellers coming from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.
Travellers who have been vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 in the State of Qatar, coming from one of these countries, are subject to a hotel quarantine for a period of two days, and the quarantine period will end after obtaining a negative PCR test result on the second day. All other travellers coming from these countries are subject to hotel quarantine for a period of 10 days.
Sunday and all the front pages had pictures of Fares Ibrahim. The weightlifter who won Qatar’s very first ever Olympic gold medal. And fuel increases were announced for August, with premium increasing by 10 dirhams to 2.05 riyals per litter, Super increasing by 10 dirhams to 2.1 riyals per litter and diesel increasing by 5 dirhams per litter to 1.95 riyals.
And the very next day saw Mutaz Barshim earn another Olympic Gold for Qatar in the high jump competition. And in an awe-inspiring act of sportsmanship, he decided to share the gold medal with fellow competitor Gianmarco Tamberi who was representing Italy.
And Dr. Al Khal declared that the new virus variants are more contagious than previous ones, so get vaccinated. He said it’s unfortunate that some people are not getting vaccinated. Checkout the weekly COVID update later in the show, and you will see why he is concerned.
Tuesday saw the announcement that due to the Corniche road closures from Friday 6th which is today, until Tuesday the 10th, the Metro will operate Friday services for today only.
However next week’s Friday services will be suspended once more.
And The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs emphasised that the extending of the probation period of workers from 3 to 6 months, serves the interests of all parties.
On Wednesday the Tribune said that Qatar’s population had shrunk by 290,000 to 2.5 million in June.
And yesterday it was announced that from today there would be a further easing of COVID-19 restrictions under Phase 3. Mosques are now open to all ages and no restrictions on children. The number of vaccinated individuals allowed to gather outdoors increases from 30 to 35. Changing rooms in shopping malls are now open. Indoor capacity in pre-qualified restaurants increases from 15% to 20% for vaccinated customers and their children. Exhibitions, conferences and events increase from 30% to 50%. The number of people allowed to gather in groups increase from 15 to 20 in parks, beaches and the Corniche. The maximum number of people on a boat increases from 20 to 25.
Outdoor attendance during amateur training increases from 30 to 35 for those vaccinated. And the work capacity for cleaning and hospitality increased from 80 to 100%.
Now on to today’s news.
Qatar will be put on England’s amber list from this coming Sunday. The rules for the amber list specify that travellers from Qatar arriving in England after Sunday will no longer be required to complete 10-days isolation in a managed hotel quarantine facility, the British embassy in Doha announced on Twitter.
However, unless travellers were vaccinated in the United Kingdom, United States or European Union, they will still be required to isolate for 10 days at a private address.
Dr. Al Khal explains that ‘Vaccines administered in Qatar are highly effective in preventing infection & severe disease due to the COVID-19 Delta strain’
He goes on to say that ‘With many people returning to Qatar in the next 3 weeks following travel abroad, there is a real risk that COVID-19 cases could increase during this time, particularly with the highly infectious delta strain circulating in Qatar and many other countries around the world. Considering the potential risk presented by returning travellers, it is risky to move to the full Phase 4’
Hamad International Airport has been recognised as the ‘Best Airport in the World 2021”, by the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2021.
And finally, Qatar Airways has grounded 13 of its Airbus A350 jets at the instruction of the country’s aviation regulator, due to the surface below the paint deteriorating faster than expected.
Now on to this weeks COVID update, over the last 7 days there have been 736 new COVID cases reported in Qatar, plus 414 entering the country, meaning a total of 1,150 new cases. There were 890 recoveries and I’m delighted to announce no COVID related deaths.
Which means there’s been an increase of 260 active cases, up from last week’s 1,810 to this week’s 2,070. It’s worth noting that for the last 11 days straight, active cases have been increasing slowly every day. So please continue to be socially responsible, it’s not over yet and we must all continue to be cautious.
