Doha: Ministry of Public Health said all coronavirus--COVID-19 cases among expatriates were discovered early thanks to the rapid action and early monitoring of those in contact with the first three cases that were announced last Sunday.

This came in a press conference held by the MOPH after announcing the registration of 238 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Qatar.

The press conference was attended by Director of Public Health at the Ministry Sheikh Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Thani, co-chair of the National Epidemic Preparation Committee Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal, who is also Head of the Infectious Diseases Division at Hamad Medical Corporation, and Director of Health Protection and Communicable Disease Control at the Public Health Department and co-chair of the National Epidemic Preparation Committee Dr. Hamad Al Rumaihi.

MOPH stressed that its investigation teams are still working around the clock to investigate cases, adding that as soon as new cases are discovered, the infected are taken to the health quarantine in the designated hospital to provide them with the necessary medical care.

Sheikh Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Thani said that the State of Qatar is currently ranked as the second country in the world after South Korea in terms of the number of tests it conducted to detect coronavirus (about 6,000 tests), as well as the second country in the world after Germany in the number of cases without deaths.

He pointed out that the new cases announced today, like other previous cases, are in very good health and a stable condition, and that 90 percent of them did not show symptoms of the disease, but it was discovered as a result of the early examination for contacts of ex-patients.

The Director of the Public Health Department stated that the State of Qatar has provided all the capabilities available to prevent the spread of the virus from various detection devices, laboratories, and field teams operating around the clock, emphasizing that the spread of the virus is limited and appeared among contacts of previous cases and in a specific place.

He stressed that the increase in the number of reported cases is due to the early and distinguished monitoring carried out by the Ministry of Public Health, as it managed with great speed to monitor contacts of the previous three cases of expatriates and conducted the necessary laboratory examinations.

He explained that currently there are more than 800 people who have been in contact with the patients in the quarantine, in addition to the citizens who were evacuated from Iran. He pointed out that a large number of those who were evacuated from Iran and subjected to quarantine will leave the quarantine on Thursday after conducting the last laboratory examination for them and making sure they are free of the virus, as previous tests confirmed that they are not infected with the coronavirus.

SOURCE: THEPENINSULAQATAR