Dr. Yousef Al Maslamani
Doha: Medical Director of Hamad General Hospital, Dr. Yousef Al Maslamani, has said that the cases of delta variant of coronavirus have been detected in Qatar.
He said that the success in delaying the arrival of the Delta variant to Qatar for a period of 3 or 4 months made a big difference in the plan to confront the epidemic, as larger number of the population was vaccinated during this delay period and thus there is a good immunity in the community.
Speaking in a Qatar TV programme yesterday, Dr. Al Maslamani said: “The delta variant appeared in February this year but reached Qatar during the current period, after about 4 months, and this gave us an opportunity to increase vaccination rates among groups, and enhance immunity in society.”
For example, he said, 85% of people above 12 years received one dose of vaccines, and this is a large number, and also a large number of people have taken both doses, which contributed to providing excellent protection.
Regarding delay in lifting the fourth phase of COVID-19 restrictions in Qatar, Dr. Al Maslamani said: “There are criteria that we rely on and that help us to know the rates of the epidemic in society, and then based on that we take the decision to move to the next stage and open more activities to the public, whether in closed or open places.”
He asked people to adhere to preventive measures like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing, and this is repeated in all stages, and in the fourth stage, more people will be allowed in closed-door and open places.
