April 2020

Qatar’s COVID-19 ResponseDr Hanan Al-Kuwari, PhDMinister of Public Health

OUR APPROACH

• A whole-government approach to the pandemic from the start

• An integrated command structure:• Supreme Committee for Crisis Management;• Council of Ministers;• National COVID-19 Committee;• Health Sector multi-institution committees.

Our plan sets out a clear set of actions to ensure that the health, well-being and prosperity of Qatar is protected. It aims to achieve three outcomes:

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Minimize the impact of the disease and mitigate its effect on the people of Qatar

Enable society to continue to function as normally as possible during and after the pandemic

Minimize and mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic

CONSIDERING QATAR’S UNIQUE POSITION

• A crossroads and a hub for trade and travel, implementing sensitive and effective border control;

• The culture and timings of Ramadan and Eid;

• A uniquely young population;

• Our values of safe, high quality, universal health access;

• Protect the most vulnerable and at-risk populations.

KEY FACTS

•First case identified on February 28 followed by a cluster (about 300 cases) in early March which was promptly addressed and contained.

•High number of tests (40,384 per million), intense contact tracing and case finding allowed for the identification of a large number of cases (3,685 per million)

•A large proportion of positive cases is asymptomatic or with very mild disease (91%). Only 1% required treatment in ICU and 8% hospitalization.

•Deaths remain very low: 10 in total (CFR 0.83 per 1000), mostly among patients with co-morbidities.

•A number of measures undertaken to increase social distancing have managed to keep the infection low in the population at large and allowed for a proper surge of hospital capacity

EPIDEMIOLOGIC CURVE

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COVID19 positive cases in Qatar by day of diagnosis and major measures taken for social distancing

Entry from 14 contries restricted

In-personclassessuspended

Mass gathering & entertainment venues closed

Public transport & restaurants closed except for take-out and delivery

Targeted lockdown of a 32-block neighborhood

Online/remote working for governmentsectoremployees

Restriction on non- essentialbusiness

Airport closedfor inboundpassengerflights

Mandatory masking in public places

COVID-19 CASES BY SEVERITY

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Total cases of COVID 19 by severity. Qatar. By 28 April 2020

PERCENT OF COVID-19 CASES BY SEVERITY

Percent cases of COVID 19 by severity. Qatar. By 27 April 2020

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Hospitalised ICU Isolation facilities

PUBLIC HEALTH MEASURES

• Active case finding, aggressive tracking and tracing;

• Screening and testing (all hospital sites, five health centres, mobile units and drivethroughs);

• Cluster and outbreak investigations;

• Quarantine hotels and isolation facilities sourced (over 30,000 beds);

• Ehteraz mobile tracing application launched;

• Education for health providers, businesses and public;

• Social distancing measures to reduce attack rate and re-production rate.

HEALTH SERVICE READINESS

• Rapidly expanded capacity by 2,900 new hospital beds across 5 hospitals and 700 new ICU beds dedicated to COVID-19 ready to deploy as first line of defense;

• Aim to maintain continuity of services in all our community and tertiary hospitals;

• Optimise use of resources across all parts of the health sector;

• Rapid innovation such as telemedicine; home delivery of medicine and other medical supplies, helplines, telephone triage and community support for those with multiple conditions

QATAR’S GLOBAL EFFORTS TO CONTAIN THE GLOBAL COVID-19

OUTBREAK

• Qatar Airways helped over 1 million passengers return home safely amid the global pandemic and supported evacuation and repatriation efforts of a number of countries;

• Qatar has provided aid in the form of medical equipment and supplies to China, Iran, Palestinian Authority, Gaza, Italy, Spain, USA, Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria, Nepal and Rwanda;

• Qatar has also aided refugee camps in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon

• Supporting UNDP’s Accelerator Labs Programme with focus on corona outbreak incubators;

• Participation in global clinical trial sand research to share our experience;

GOING FORWARD

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Creating new norms which encourage personal, social and business responsibility to protect public health as well as deliver value for money: Good Public Health = Good Business;

De-escalation plan for post peak is in development;

Innovations in digital information systems, remote care, community and primary care and care integration that arose out of the necessity of providing care during COVID-19 must continue and be further expanded.