The Ministry of Public Health has revised the hotel quarantine policy for incoming travellers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. The new policy mandates a 10-day hotel quarantine for all travellers from these six countries, irrespective of whether the travellers are vaccinated against COVID-19 or not.
In addition, the travellers from these countries must also hold a negative PCR COVID-19 test taken at designated health facilities within 48 hours of their departure for Qatar. The travellers will undergo a repeat PCR test at their quarantine facility within 24 hours of their arrival, and will be tested again before the end of their quarantine period.
The authorities have tightened the quarantine requirements from these destinations after the emergence of new strains, including the one in India, which are more transmissible and are causing more severe symptoms.
Home quarantine criteria is not applicable for travellers coming from these countries, including the exemptions due to vaccination or recovery from a previous infection with the virus during the past six months.
The announcement came after an alarming spread of the COVID-19 infection in recent weeks in India, where many hospitals were overwhelmed by the patients. Similarly, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines and other countries have also seen COVID-19 cases rise in recent weeks. The new measures will help control COVID-19 in Qatar and help authorities ward off new variants of the viral infection. Qatar’s government has put in place effective isolation and quarantine measures for incoming travellers since the start of the pandemic, which helped to control the first wave of the pandemic in the country last year.
The country witnessed the second wave of the pandemic in recent months after emergence of COVID-19 variants. However, the prompt response by the government to shut some non-essential services and restrict others helped in bringing down the new cases within weeks. The daily count of the new cases fell below 700 yesterday, for the first time since March 29,2021. The quarantine policy has helped the authorities to check the spread of the pandemic without hard border closures. The country is also vaccinating the population at a fast pace, with close to 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses already administered.
In coming weeks and months, the majority of the adult population will receive the vaccine, helping the country achieve the herd immunity. Until then however, precaution and prevention remain the best way to protect ourselves against the virus.
