The COVID Experience in Qatar
20/10/2020 Sudeshna Sanyal * Earlier this year as the spread of coronavirus started to gather momentum in different parts of the world, we, the residents of Qatar, braced for its impact as well. Although the first cases outside China were reported from different countries in January, the first confirmed case of COVID in Qatar was reported on 29 February,’20. This was a Qatari citizen who was evacuated from Iran. By 19 March, the number of total infected people rose to 460. Everybody knew that the spread of the infection in Qatar was inevitable in our intricately connected world. One by one, the government started taking strict steps to contain the spread of the virus. Travel ban was imposed, first, on 15 countries and later more were included in the list. A general ‘Lockdown’ was imposed in the first week of March and schools, universities, parks, religious places, shops, restaurants, malls and other establishments were closed. Face masks became mandatory in public places with a ...