Qatar on Sunday announced that it would suspend all incoming flights for a period of two weeks from Wednesday (March 18) as the number of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the country soared to 401.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.“As per the decisions, all inbound flights to Qatar will be stopped as of March 18 for two weeks, except transit flights, cargo flights and flights carrying Qatar nationals from other countries. We will review the situation at the end of two weeks and appropriate decisions will be taken depending on the prevailing situation then,” said Lolwah Rashid AlKhater, assistant foreign minister and spokesperson for the ministry of foreign affairs.
Last week, Qatar had banned entry of nationals from 13 countries, including India.
The suspension of flight services is part of several measures announced by the government of Qatar. Qatar suspended all public transport services, including the Karwa Bus and the Doha Metro, from Sunday until further notice.
"All the public, private and university students will begin distance learning from Sunday. The 12th grade students of public schools will sit exams on time and at the exams headquarters, which will be announced later," Lolwah Rashid AlKhater was quoted as saying by the Gulf Times.
“Certain groups of people—employees over the age of 55, pregnant women, and people suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart and kidney disease and stress—will be allowed to work from home,” she said.
The Qatar government has announced plans to provide financial and economic incentives, amounting to Qatar Riyals 75 billion (about $20.5 billion) to the private sector to overcome disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Some sectors have been exempted from paying electricity and water charges for six months. These sectors include hospitality, retail, logistics and small and medium industries.
The Ministry of Public Health on Sunday announced that 64 new cases of coronavirus had been confirmed in Qatar, taking the total number of cases to 401.
As of Sunday, 9,750 people had been tested for COVID-19 in Qatar. Four people had recovered from COVID-19 in Qatar.
