Qatari regime contributes to spreading corona among citizens to offset Doha’s losses

Sarah Waheed

A state of fear has overcome the Qatari people due to the spread of the corona virus and the increase of infected people to nearly 2,376 cases, as the government has ignored citizens’ demands for measures to prevent the virus.

The government continues to keep airports open to flights to and from countries with widespread cases of infection such as Iran, which exposes Qataris to severe danger. Qatar Airways has become a source for spreading the deadly pandemic.

On March 10, the opposition website Qatarileaks posted a video clip from inside Hamad International Airport showing the lack of preventive measures in Doha to confront the corona virus. A number of travelers appeared not committed to preventive measures, confirming that the Qatari regime did not take the necessary precautions to cope with the outbreak of the fatal virus despite the high number of infections.

In mid-March, while flights were halted globally due to the outbreak of the corona pandemic, Qatar Airways confirmed its commitment to enable the largest number of passengers to travel to their countries during these difficult times.

The airline even added flights to Paris, Frankfurt, London and Perth starting March 25, and it continued to operate 35 flights a week to Berlin and Munich.

Qatar Airways said it operates 150 flights a day to more than 70 cities around the world, with a periodic review of operations in order to operate more flights or operate aircraft of greater capacity to these cities.

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al-Baker said that the company will continue operating flights under the pretext of returning passengers to their home countries, noting that the company had planned to operate 1,800 flights between March 29 and April 11.

Baker added in a statement to Reuters that Qatar Airways is among the few international airlines that did not completely stop operating after the pandemic ruined demand.

Iran and Turkey export corona to Qatar 

The decision to conduct flights has made the Qatari people angry at the regime of Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, especially as Qatari airports remain open to countries with a high infection rates such as Iran and Turkey, which were excluded from the list of countries banned entry on March 3, including Egypt, Kuwait and Oman.

On February 29, Qatar’s Ministry of Health announced the country’s first corona case – a 36-year-old Qatari citizen who had returned from Iran.

Turkey was also a source of dozens of infection cases in Qatar, the most recent of which was the infection of 12 people at the Qatar Police College due to their contact with two Turkish officers working there after they manifested symptoms following their return from Ankara.

Compensating losses 

Bloomberg reported on March 26 that the Qatari regime has an incomprehensible insistence on operating flights while the entire world has stopped journeys in order to prevent the spread of the corona virus.

Countries in the Middle East have taken a set of precautionary measures to prevent and stop the spread of the virus, but the Qatari regime continues to violate protocols despite its small population having highest rate of infection in the Arab world, according to Bloomberg.

Qatar has acted contradictory to the more stringent measures and reduced flights that were set across the Middle East and Europe to prevent the movement of people and thus contain the virus quickly, Bloomberg stated, noting that international companies stopped 90% of their flights, while some even completely stopped working.

Bloomberg stressed that Doha seeks to exploit these global measures for material gain at the expense of its citizens in order to contain and offset the huge economic losses it has seen due to the Arab boycott of it.