The main intention of making the approval of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) mandatory to hold public and private events is to maintain and protect the safety of all those involved, including the organisers and the public as well, pointed out Dr Yousef al-Maslamani, medical director of Hamad General Hospital.
He told Qatar TV on Monday that the approval of the MoPH to hold such events is in addition to other necessary approvals of the entities concerned in the country. The initial step is to check the health of all the organisers and workers at the event. If any one tested positive for Covid-19, he would be quarantined according to the standard procedures in such cases.
Then, the number of public allowed to participate would be determined according to the nature of the event and the venue to maintain the required physical distancing. Dr al-Maslamani pointed out that this varies from event to event and from closed places to open spaces and by the nature of the event itself.
Meanwhile, he stressed that all the approved standard preventive and precautionary measures should be followed strictly throughout any event and the organisers should sign affidavits. In case of violations, the punitive measures include cancelling the event and closing the venue.
Dr Muna al-Maslamani, the medical director of the Communicable Disease Center and assistant head of Infectious Diseases Division – Medicine Department at Hamad Medical Corporation, told Qatar TV during the same programme that taking the seasonal flu vaccine this year gains special importance in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is of utmost importance for the vulnerable groups of people such as young children, the elderly and those with chronic diseases, in addition to pregnant women and those working in the health sector to take the flu shot.
The flu vaccine decreases the potential of severe symptoms as one person could contract both the seasonal flu and Covid-19 together, which makes things worse, as it is hard to differentiate from the external symptoms and lab test is needed s to confirm Covid-19.
She also advised people to remain cautious as an increase in Covid-19 cases would eventually cause unusual pressure on healthcare facilities, even though the number remains stable and under control so far in Qatar.
