HH The Amir addresses nation in special Ramadan message

His Highness The Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani delivered a speech today on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan. HH The Amir congratulates citizens and residents of Qatar on the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan, hoping it will be a month of grace and blessings upon the nation, and the entire humanity.

This year, Ramadan will be very different from previous years. The holy month has come while Qatar, and the whole world, are in the midst of combating the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which medical researchers still couldn’t find a vaccination or an effective cure. However, Work is in progress in order to find, produce, and distribute vaccinations, which requires the utmost levels of international cooperation.

Until the discovery, societies can only protect themselves by preventing and stemming its spread. This is based mainly on what has become known as “social distancing”, as there is no infection without contact, in addition to sterilization and personal protection of all kinds, home and non-home isolation of those suspected of being infected, or for the more vulnerable ones to the complications of the disease.

From the start, it was clear that the situation is different from the epidemics witnessed by the contemporary world, and that preserving people’s lives requires enforcing strict measures that which have already taken including suspending education in schools and universities, reducing contact in public places, closing commercial complexes, entertainment centers, public parks, and facilities, in addition to reducing the number of employees in public and private institutions, cutting working hours and other measures.

These measures will not be successful unless they are tied with a broad medical testing campaign to detect infected people and trace their contact-net, mainly because the symptoms appear only after a period of time which is sufficient to infect others without knowledge.

Since the first day, Qatar has adhered to transparency, which is an authentic approach, and one of the most important conditions of prevention. Concealing the facts would expose people to danger.

The State established new factories to provide some of the necessities, strengthened the necessary medical staff and equipment, and established field hospitals that can accommodate thousands of people.

On this occasion, The Amir thanks the medical staff members, citizens and residents, who work with devotion and dedication on the frontline against the pandemic, as well as the police, the security authorities, the administrative bodies, all staff in the teams of the crisis, and workers in the vital services of the State and economic sectors, which are indispensable even during these circumstances. Also to the volunteers who have taken the initiative to assist the State’s bodies and provide necessary help to those in need.

Numerous means have been introduced to continue remote work from home in the fields where that is possible. Meanwhile, the process of distance education in schools and universities has recorded significant success. After examining there will be a gradual opening of different fields only after making sure of identifying all the cases that need to be held in quarantine, and that individuals, institutions, commercial stores, and various utilities are complying with the strict prevention measures. The process of testing and diagnosis of cases that need isolation must continue even after getting back to normal life, otherwise, there would be a new outbreak of the pandemic.

“I would like to bring you good tidings, that in Qatar we are proceeding with confident strides on the right track”, he concluded.

Source: Qatar Living