Qatar announced a new package of updates to the travel and return policy, and before that, it had decided to return students to schools, so how did it succeed?

And what did a country study reveal about the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccination?

And who is the European minister who confirmed that the pandemic in his country is not over yet?

The answers and more are in this report.

​The Qatari Ministry of Public Health has announced a new package of updates to the COVID-19 travel and return policy to Qatar, which will enter into force on Monday, February 28, 2022 at 7 pm local time.

Significant decrease in injuries

The ministry said - in a statement - that these updates coincide with the noticeable decrease in the number of Covid-19 infections in the country.

This confirms the success of the national program for vaccination against COVID-19 in the State of Qatar.

Before that, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education had decided to return students to schools since January 30th.

Today, the Ministry of Public Health announced the registration of 297 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the past 24 hours, and 779 cases of recovery, bringing the total number of people recovering from the virus in the country to 351,746 people.

More than 6 million doses

The Ministry indicated that 6,303 thousand and 572 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been given to members of society since the beginning of the vaccination program, including 2,787 doses during the past 24 hours, and one million and 212 thousand and 354 doses of enhanced Covid-19 vaccines until today, explaining that 87.9% of the The entire population was fully vaccinated with both doses of the vaccine.

In its statement, the Ministry noted that there is clear evidence of the preventive effects of Covid-19 vaccines, as most of the Covid-19 patients whose cases require admission to intensive care are unvaccinated individuals or individuals who received the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine more than 6 years ago. months, and they did not receive the booster dose of the vaccine.

She also noted that the latest evidence shows that the country has passed the peak of the third wave of the pandemic, as the number of new cases of the virus recorded daily continues to decrease, noting that the support provided by society by adhering to the government's precautionary restrictions and precautionary measures for Covid-19, in addition to vaccination rates. high;

It was a decisive factor that helped reach this stage and stabilize the number of new daily infections.

Change country ranking lists

As part of the travel and return policy updates to the State of Qatar, the Ministry of Public Health has changed the lists of country classifications according to the risks of Covid-19 from green, red and exceptional red, so that there are two lists: the normal health and safety procedures for those coming to Qatar, and the health and safety procedures for those coming from the red list.

As for the examination policy, the time required to conduct a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test before arrival has been changed to 48 hours from the time of departure in the country of arrival.

Citizens and residents who are immune to Covid-19 are excluded from this procedure, regardless of the countries from which they came.

While citizens and residents who are not vaccinated (not immunized) must take the aforementioned test 48 hours before arrival from the time of departure in case they come from one of the countries subject to health and safety procedures for those coming from the red list.

The success of the strategy to combat COVID-19

The Ministry of Public Health confirms that the policy of travel and return to the State of Qatar is a major criterion in the success of the State of Qatar's strategy to combat Covid-19, by applying many strict precautionary measures to those coming to the State of Qatar;

Which effectively contributed to recording the lowest death rates affected by the Covid-19 virus in the world.

The ministry explained that the goal of the updates in the travel and return policy is to facilitate the process of travel and return to the State of Qatar, with full commitment to all means that would prevent and protect society from the danger of the Covid-19 virus.

Admission to intensive care

On February 22, the Qatari Ministry of Public Health announced that the analysis of data on Covid-19 patients who had been admitted to Hamad Medical Corporation hospitals since last December 15 confirmed that unvaccinated patients were 8 times more likely and their cases required admission to intensive care due to infection. severe COVID-19 compared to fully vaccinated COVID-19 patients, according to a statement on its website.

The analytical review also showed that partially vaccinated patients - those who received only one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, or who received the second dose more than 6 months ago and did not receive the booster dose - enjoy a certain degree of protection, but it is much less than the protection that they enjoy. Fully vaccinated patients, as the review showed that partially vaccinated patients were 3 times less likely, because their cases require admission to intensive care compared to non-vaccinated patients, but the likelihood of them entering intensive care was two and a half times greater compared to patients who were fully vaccinated.

The Acting Head of Intensive Care Units at Hamad Medical Corporation, Dr. Ahmed Al-Mohammed, explained that the analytical review of the data of the intensive care unit confirms what his medical teams witness on the ground on a daily basis.

He added, "In the intensive care units at Hamad Medical Corporation, we provide care and treatment to patients with the most severe cases, and some of these patients need artificial respirators to support their breathing."

He pointed out, "It is sad for us as medical teams to see patients fighting for their lives, knowing that they could have avoided this through one simple procedure, which is receiving vaccination. receive the vaccination.


German Minister of Health

On Friday, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said that the situation does not allow Germany to ease Covid-19 restrictions faster, and that Germans should not think that the pandemic is over because the number of new daily infections is still very high.

We have "absolutely no room" for lifting restrictions quickly, Lauterbach said, adding that it could not be accepted that COVID-19 deaths could be between 200 and 300 per day.

epidemic subside

Globally, the Covid-19 epidemic continued to decline this week, with the number of infections declining in all parts of the world except for Asia.

With 1.66 million daily injuries recorded in the world, this indicator reflects a clear decline for the fourth week in a row, with a decrease of 16% from the previous week, according to a toll prepared by the French Press Agency.

Daily injuries fell by half compared to the peak recorded a month ago, and amounted to 3.37 million injuries during the week between January 21 and 27 last.


 About 6 million deaths globally from Corona

The Covid-19 pandemic has officially claimed more than 5,925,534 people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to a census by Agence France-Presse.

The United States is the country with the highest number of deaths with 944,831, followed by Brazil with 647,390, and India with 513,226.

The World Health Organization estimates that the total number of deaths may be 2 to 3 times higher, taking into account the increased number of deaths due to Covid-19 directly and indirectly.