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CATHERINE W GICHUKI
DOHA
With the new coronavirus (2019-nCov) causing a global concern, Qatar said it has taken all necessary measures to prevent the spread of the virus in the country. No case has been reported in the country so far.
“We would like to assure people that Qatar has taken all the necessary measures to prevent the spread of the virus. We are following closely what is happening in China and World Health Organisation (WHO),” Sheikh Dr Mohamed al Thani, Director of Public Health Department at the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), said.
The new virus, which was first detected in China’s Wuhan, has so far claimed 56 lives and infected more than 1,975 people. “Till now not a single case of the virus has been reported in Qatar,” he said.
The Ministry of Public Health has already implemented procedures for the detection and screening of all travellers coming from China at Hamad International Airport (HIA) as part of precautionary measures to detect the emerging coronavirus.
The MoPH, in cooperation with HIA and Qatar Airways, screens travellers from China through high-quality thermal cameras that can record the passengers’ body temperature remotely.
The National Pandemic Preparedness Committee has approved the use of thermal screening at HIA of all travellers coming from China. “We have a way of identifying the kits through international collaboration centre of WHO on how to diagnose the case,” he said.
“We’re raising awareness among travellers about the symptoms of pneumonia, including high fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing.”
He advised that anyone who travelled from China with symptoms should seek medical attention immediately and identify themselves as people who arrived from China in the last two weeks.
Hamad Medical Corporation’s Communicable Disease Center (CDC) is also well prepared to tackle any emergencies, he said.
“We assure all that in case of any such case, we are well prepared. It is not the first time that we are dealing with such diseases. We had Mers-Cov which emerged in this region. We have also experienced H1N1 10 years ago. We have trained professionals and we keep on updating the information. Through media awareness people will have a better understanding on what needs to be done. We would like to assure people that there is no need to panic,” he said.
“We hope that people will help us in raising the awareness and avoid being in risky places. We urge them to seek medical advice immediately in case they have any suspected symptoms,” he said.
The fatality rate in the new virus is only 3 percent.
“It is not like Mers-Coronavirus which has a fatality rate of 33 percent or SARS coronavirus (10 percent).”
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27/01/2020
2839