Qatar health ministry has confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the country. The 36-year-old citizen who was in Iran, got a novel virus but his health condition is stable. He had been quarantined since Thursday, the state-run Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
The Qatari health ministry said on Saturday the patient who returned recently from Iran, had unintentionally imported the COVID in the country. For the Gulf country, it is the first case of the new coronavirus as infections continue to rise outside of China.
To avoid the rapidly spreading virus, Qatari medical officers are checking all passengers in the airport. The patient travelled to Qatar’s capital, Doha, on a government-chartered plane and has been in quarantine with other evacuees.
All those who were brought back on Thursday by the Qatari government will be quarantined in a local hotel for 14 days.
“A hotel has been set up as a quarantine facility to be used by the Qatari citizens for a 14-day period and will be cared for and monitored by medical. Additionally, they have also been provided with all necessities,” the Government Communications Office said.
In the world, China, Iran, South Korea and Italy emerging as COVID19 hotspots. With Qatar reporting its first infection, Saudi Arabia is the only Gulf country not to have signalled any coronavirus case. The kingdom recently halted travel to holy sites, including its touristic pearls like Mecca and Medina.
So far, in the Middle East, Iran remains the country most affected by the outbreak, with 43 deaths and nearly 600 confirmed infections as of Saturday.
The United Arab Emirates, a regional business hub and major transit point for passengers travelling to China and other destinations in Asia, advised banks to reschedule loans and reduce fees and commissions on Saturday as part of measures to mitigate the economic effects of the coronavirus outbreak.
Kuwait has reported 45 coronavirus infections, Bahrain 38 and the UAE 21, of whom five recovered. Oman has reported six, of whom one recovered, and Iraq has reported eight cases of COVID-19.
