The Peninsula
Qatar has resumed sports activity in the country after ‘months of hard work’ on implementing strict health and safety protocols around venues.
This was said yesterday by Dr Abdulwahab Almusleh, Senior Consultant to Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) as Doha prepares to host the last leg of the Diamond League at Qatar SC on Friday.
“After months of hard work, we have resumed sports activities with health and safety measures in place. We are taking special care so as to limit the spread of the virus. The sports events are also important for Qatar,” Dr Abdulwahab said at the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) building, yesterday.
“From the beginning of September, Qatar started the fourth phase of resuming economic and social activities. Now Qatar has the experience and the know-how to resume sports events. We have resumed football and basketball leagues. The sport activities in Qatar, thankfully, are not the reason of the spread of the disease. We are committed to social distancing and using face masks,” he said.
“We have put in place complete protocols with Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) and the Local Organizing Committee. The medical procedures are being strictly adhered to. The QOC are also carefully implementing the health protocols. The most important part of the protocol is that all athletes from overseas have to undergo virus tests and come out as negative,” he said. “This also goes for technical staff that underwent tests sometime back. They have been tested regularly since the start of September. The athletes that have arrived step out for training purposes only.
“Social distancing is also a key component of our protocols as is hand washing. The MOPH had approved the entry of fans at the venue but the LOC decided not to hold the event in front of the fans for the health and safety of all. The technical staff is also doing its best not to mix with athletes at this point in time.
“I think Qatar has become the global hub for sports events for more than a decade. There’s great attention host international events. We have exceptional infrastructure to meet the demands of hosting top events at a high level. This Covid-19 pandemic has hurt sports activities around the world,” he added.