facebooktwittertelegramwhatsapp
copy short urlprintemail
+ A
A -
Qatar tribune
Tribune News Network
Doha
The coronavirus infection rate has stabilised and there are no significant daily increase in cases, National Epidemic Preparation Committee Co-Chair Dr Dr Abdullatif al Khal said in an interview on Thursday.
The weekly average has also stablised and the number of cases requiring hospitalisation has decreased, he added.
"The indicators are reassuring and early detection of cases contributed to reducing the number of identified positive cases. We have reached the peak of the curve and there is a decrease in the acute cases index."
Medical analysis in the past few weeks indicates that COVID-19 patients are no longer infectious after 10 days of getting sick. Analyses of patients’ respiratory secretions show that virus become non-viable after 10 days.
The Ministry of Public Health’s new COVID-19 protocol, which qualifies all asymptomatic patients for discharge after 14 days of getting infected, saw hundreds of patients being released from institutional quarantine and going into house isolation for a period of seven days, he said. The seven-day home quarantine is an additional precaution even though such patients are no longer infectious, Dr Khal added.
Most of the infected in Qatar apply to get out of quarantine and go home after two weeks and 90 percent of the infections are mild or without symptoms, he added.
Dr Khal said the death rate in Qatar is among the lowest in the world and this comes as a result of preventive health measures.
“The availability of sufficient number of beds and the medical staff in intensive care units contributed greatly to reducing the number of deaths.”
In general, Dr Khal said the transmission curve has reached its peak and there has been a decrease in the number of cases entering intensive care units

‘Young people also at risk’
Young people have to take coronavirus seriously as there have been deaths among patients aged below 30 and even 20 years, Dr Khal said.
“We are witnessing an increase in the number of deaths, but Qatar still has one of the lowest death rates from COVID-19 in the world.
“More than 90 percent of the citizens and residents did not catch the virus, but they are vulnerable to infection and they must take full care to protect themselves against the infection.”

copy short url   Copy
04/06/2020
4303