More than 30 weddings held in one day ahead of new COVID-19 restrictions

Several weddings are taking place on Saturday, the last day before new restrictions are scheduled to be enforced. 

Some 30 weddings are being held on Saturday, just one day before new COVID-19 restrictions are due to be imposed across the country, amid a concerning surge in infections.

“Praise be to God, today’s list of weddings show more than 30 weddings. Congratulations,” Qatar Weddings, an account dedicated to announcing weddings in the country, said. 

This comes just days after a press conference concerning reimposition plans was held and confirmed new restrictions amid an increase in COVID-19 cases.

Among the list of restrictions from the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management is one that targets weddings, stipulating no indoor or outdoor weddings are allowed to take place, with the exception of weddings held at home. These weddings will only allow a maximum of 10 people indoors and 20 people outdoors.

Read also: Qatar imposes new COVID restrictions, but is it enough?

Starting February 7, an application must be submitted in order to hold weddings. The Ministry of Interior’s (MoI) Public Relations Department Brigadier-General Abdullah Khalifa al-Muftah announced that the mobile app “Metrash 2” will soon provide feature a service that will allow the submission of these wedding applications.

However, many are saying that the decision to not enforce these restrictions sooner is counterproductive. Head of Infectious Diseases at Hamad Medical Corporation Dr. Abdul Latif Al-Khal said that most infected cases were due to social gatherings, weddings, and events.

One tweet said “unfortunately, all the decisions were implemented from 2/4, except for the weddings from 2/7, why is this when it is known that most cases were from weddings?”

Another tweet read “everyone enjoy your last weekend before we plung [sic] into semi-lockdown after 30 weddings in one day.”

As the virus mutates into different strains that may soon arrive, Qatar is now in a critical period where adherence to restrictions will determine whether it will battle the second wave or move into a partial lockdown.

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