Mesaieed Hospital becomes fifth facility to discharge last Covid-19 patients

The country has seen a significant dip in Covid-19 cases in the past month as authorities rapidly put in place precautionary measures to control the pandemic. 

Mesaieed Hospital has discharged its last coronavirus patients, state news agency (QNA) announced on Tuesday, following a steady decrease in cases in recent weeks.

The hospital is set to recommence normal services after serving as a Covid-19 facility for 15 months, state-owned Qatar News Agency confirmed.

“After providing high-quality medical care to large numbers of Covid-19 patients throughout the second wave of the virus in Qatar, Mesaieed Hospital has discharged its final Covid-19 patients and commenced normal outpatient services,” it said in a statement.

The hospital was among the first of seven facilities to be designated to receive infected patients since March 2020 in an effort to meet the demand for hospital admissions.

The centre hosted 120 acute care beds, which then expanded to provide 610 acute beds and 45 intensive care beds to serve the community.

“Expanding the hospital to this scale is testament to the commitment and expertise of our healthcare teams and enabled Mesaieed Hospital to provide care to large numbers of male and female patients throughout both waves, including specialist mental health services for those patients who required psychological support,” HMC’s Acting Assistant Managing Director and Chief of Tertiary Hospitals Group Ali Al Janahi said.

In the last two months, four other facilities returned to conducting normal services, including Surgical Specialty Center, Ras Laffan Hospital, Al Wakra Hospital and Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital – all of which served as Covid-19 facilities during the peak of the pandemic.

“I am proud to have been part of this remarkable team of healthcare professionals at Mesaieed Hospital throughout our role as a Covid-19 facility,” Acting Medical Director of Mesaieed Hospital Dr. Ihab El Madhoun said. 

“Around 900 healthcare staff, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, engineers, and hospitality and administration staff have worked together towards a common goal of delivering the highest-quality care to patients with Covid-19.

“Soon, Mesaieed Hospital will switch its focus and reopen outpatient services to support Al Wakra Hospital in delivering a range of clinics for people in Mesaieed, Al Wakra and the surrounding areas.”

Previously, Qatar’s Public Health Minister Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari said that expanding intensive care capacity across the country’s health sector has significantly contributed to the low Covid-19-related fatalities in the country.

“One of the key elements of our Covid-19 strategy since the start of the pandemic has been to expand hospital capacity to ensure every Covid-19 patient needing medical treatment can access the care they need without delay,”  said Al Kuwari during a visit to Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital.

Read also: Two hospitals discharge last Covid-19 patients as cases decline

However, with the number of daily reported cases drastically decreasing in the last month, in large due to the introduction of new strict regulations in April, fewer people now require hospital admissions for virus symptoms. As a result, the hospital can now resume normal services.

Qatar has seen a huge dip in Covid-19 numbers since the implementation of new restrictions in late April. In the last few weeks, the country has been reporting less than 200 daily cases— a significant decrease since the peak of the second wave in April.

The recent drop in numbers can be attributed to the availability of more vaccines as well as the opening of more vaccination centres, which allowed the country to exponentially ramp up its national inoculation campaign.

The implementation of strict restrictions to curb the virus has also played an essential role in flattening the curve, which is expected to further decrease in the upcoming days.

In addition, Qatar is set to be among the first countries to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19 in a months time, Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, Director of Public Health at the Ministry of Public Health announced earlier this month.

Over half population fully vaccination

Over half of the population— aged 16 and above — have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in Qatar, with recent statistics from the ministry showing over 1.5 million people are now fully vaccinated.

According to the figures, 78.1% of those 16 and over have received at least the first dose. 

Meanwhile, 98.6% of those aged 60 and above received the first dose with 93.5% of this age group now fully vaccinated.

Since the start of the country’s National Vaccination Campaign, 3,428,791 vaccine doses have been administered. The country has been expanding its vaccination campaign in recent months to ensure the community’s safety— administrating over 2,000 doses daily.

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