Despite Qatar’s efforts to control the spread of Omicron, Washington has decided to place Doha on its list of high-risk countries.
The U.S Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advised American citizens and residents against traveling to 22 countries due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. Some of the countries recently added to the travel list are Egypt, Albania, Australia, Uruguay and Argentina.
In addition, the CDC updated its “Level Four: Very High” list to include Qatar, along with The Bahamas, Bahrain, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands and Bolivia. The centre strongly discourages travel to countries on the Level Four list.
With the new additions to the list, there are 101 countries in the red zone that the US advises against traveling to.
Unvaccinated Americans are recommended to stay away from non-essential travel to these countries.
Read also: Could the surge in Covid-19 cases end soon?
Despite Qatar being included on the CDC’s ‘Very High Risk’ travel list, the country has been increasing its efforts to overcome the third wave of coronavirus infections.
The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) announced on its Twitter account that the country has administered through the National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme, a total of 547,9206 booster shots.
According to official statistics at least 86.8% of the population have received least two doses of the MoPH approved Covid-19 vaccine.
Qatar has also recently re-introduced restrictions to control and contain the spread of the virus, these include:
- Markets will operate with a capacity not exceeding 75%.
- Only vaccinated customers are allowed inside restaurants and cafes.
- Gatherings in public parks, beaches and the Corniche are limited to a maximum of 15 people or family members residing in the same house.
- Mosques will still be open to the public for all the prayers, but those under 12 will not be allowed in.
- Social gatherings and visits in open places in homes and majlis are limited to a maximum of 15 vaccinated people outdoors, and 10 in closed spaces, not including family members living in the same house.
The MoPH in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) is working with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) to publish scientific analysis that will improve the national response towards preventing the spread of the infection.
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