Doha Municipality closes 20 food outlets

https://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/24/03/2020/Doha-Municipality-closes-20-food-outlets

Peninsular News Doha

Doha Municipality has shutdown 20 food outlets operating in Doha and Industrial Area for violating some provisions of health rules during the past two weeks.

The closure periods of erring outlets range from five to 30 days, said the Ministry of Municipality and Environment in a statement issued yesterday. The inspectors of Health Monitoring Section of Doha Municipality made inspections  at 762 food outlets across Doha.

As many as 33 violations of health rules were recorded.

The inspectors have also intensified inspection campaign on vehicles which transport food items from and to Industrial Area at the assembly points. Six inspectors are assigned to work from 5am to 10pm throughout the week, including Fridays and Saturdays, to ensure the safety of food items.

The inspectors also check vehicles, drivers and potters to comply with the health rules like wearing masks, gloves, maintaining personal hygiene and required temperatures of the refrigerators of vehicles.

The inspectors also check the health certificates of all food handlers at food outlets.

The inspectors conducted an inspection campaign at Lulu Hypermarket in Mesaila.

All sections of the market underwent inspection. The inspectors also checked the health certificates of food handlers and their personal hygiene. The inspectors also checked whether food handlers were wearing mask and gloves and customers are being provided with sanitisers and masks at the places for selling fruits and vegetables.

Meanwhile, Health Monitoring Section of Umm Salal Municipality issued two administrative decisions to close food outlets for seven days for violating some provisions of health rules. The inspectors also recorded seven violations during the inspection campaign which was intensified by the beginning of this week to ensure the outlets are complying to the health rules and create health awareness among them. The inspection campaign also covered slaughterhouse and winter vegetable market at Al Mazrouha. Al Shamal Municipality also intensified inspection campaign on food outlets and eateries to ensure the compliance of health rules.

During the campaign, the outlets were educated about the importance of wearing masks, gloves and head cover and to limit the number of customers inside the shops focusing on takeaway. Umm Salal Municipality is running a campaign to clean and disinfect roads and other public places to ensure the health and safety of people.

The Municipality urged all segments of the society to cooperate with the cleaning teams to ensure a smooth cleaning operation.

Are clinics safe to visit?

Cant be certain how long social distancing practices and quarantine measures will continue as Doctors and nurses continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

how about all the previous unrelated to COVID-19 medical emergencies ?

Most Commonly occurring emergencies like Fever, infections, Allergies, Urinary tract infections still prevail in the community. Parco Healthcare is also equipped with diagnostic techniques in Laboratory and X-ray .

Rest assured that our medical center attends to many urgent cases including the Shahaniya branch

As a precautionary measure Consistent Cleaning and Sterilization (Fumigation) takes place in all branches

As a precautionary measure we have installed Glass partitioning at the reception and where ever deemed necessary. To curb the spread between the front line staff.

Social Distancing stickers on waiting areas and seats with support staff to make sure to attend to your personally. They coordinate the patient flow during peak hours.

We also give you the option to wait your turn in your own vehicle if that makes you comfortable.

Our Specialist doctor under the instructions and directions of the ministry of public health in Qatar are working hard towards flattening this COVID-19 curve that we must fight against together as ONE.

WHO Praises Qatar

World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has lauded the efforts made by Qatar “to implement a comprehensive approach to control Covid-19”.

In a tweet on Thursday, Dr Ghebreyesus said he had a “good call” with HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari.

He congratulated her for His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani’s leadership to contain the novel coronavirus and the efforts made to implement a comprehensive approach to suppress and control Covid-19.

Meanwhile, HE Dr al-Kuwari visited the Covid-19 Surveillance Unit amid the ongoing efforts to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in Qatar, the MoPH tweeted on Thursday.

“The team at the Surveillance Unit, based at the Ministry of Public Health, has been continuously monitoring the epidemiological situation since the outbreak of Covid-19 in China. The unit is working to proactively identify people in Qatar who may have been in contact with confirmed cases of Covid-19,” the MoPH said.

“Once identified, these people are placed under quarantine – to prevent possible further spread – and tested to determine their status,” it added.

On Wednesday, HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani, who is also chairman of the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management, visited Hamad International Airport and directed the officials concerned to quickly implement the required measures for the health and safety of citizens and residents returning to Qatar.

The Prime Minister’s visit and subsequent directives came after several observations were made regarding the completion of procedures for receiving citizens and residents returning to the country, including the procedures for transferring them to quarantine to protect them from Covid-19.

MOPH Website Qatar

How Social distancing helps

What is “flattening the curve” and how does social distancing help?

“Flattening the curve” is an expression used to explain how slowing the exponential growth in a disease’s spread can allow a country’s health system to better cope with the surge in cases so that it isn’t overwhelmed.

While the novel coronavirus pandemic might eventually infect a majority of people in the United States, the speed at which the outbreak spreads makes a huge difference in health outcomes. What epidemiologists fear is that the U.S. health system would become overwhelmed by a sudden surge that requires more people to be hospitalized than can be handled, both from a personnel and equipment standpoint. In a scenario of uncontrolled growth, more people would die simply because there might not be enough doctors, nurses, hospital beds or ventilators for people who need them.

“If you look at the curves of outbreaks, they go big peaks, and then come down. What we need to do is flatten that down,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 

Flattening the curve means that the social distancing measures being deployed in places like Italy and South Korea and now in the United States aren’t so much about preventing illness but rather slowing down the rate at which people get sick, according to Vox.

Without any measures to slow it down, COVID-19 will spread exponentially for months. An interactive simulation by the Washington Post shows how the spread can be slowed by use of “social distancing,” avoiding public spaces and large group gatherings that can increase the rapid spread of COVID-19. 

Janet Moore contributed to this report. This article also includes information from the Washington Post and Associated Press.
Star tribune.com