Living with caution during COVID-19

In light of the fact that no vaccine has yet been found for coronavirus, it seems that there is no option but to live with virus, at least for the time being. The pandemic has changed the lifestyle of people and how they deal with others to prevent the virus.

They have to rely more on technology for work and study. Everyone has realised that changing the behaviour of citizens is the only right way to prevent the spread of the virus, especially with the general tendency of countries to gradually reopen its economic activities.

Countries that have reopened many economic activities depend on citizens’ awareness and commitment to health regulations. “The novel coronavirus spreading around the globe ‘may never go away’, becoming a long-term fact of life that must be managed, not an enemy that can be permanently eradicated,” a top World Health Organisation official said recently. Qatar has made wearing facemasks compulsory for all citizens and residents upon leaving house for any reason.

It also decided the following to compel all citizens and residents upon leaving house for any reason to wear masks, except in the case when a person is alone while driving a vehicle. Also, in case of non-compliance with this decision, the penalties stipulated in Decree Law No. (17) of 1990 regarding the prevention of infectious diseases shall be applied to the violator by imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years and a fine not exceeding QR200,000, or one of these two penalties.

The Ministry of Interior, in a tweet, has called for the necessity of adhering to the precautionary measures that the state adopted to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, noting that the individual’s commitment to these measures means that he/she fulfils national and moral duty towards himself and others. The Government Communications Office (GCO) has said that one of the main causes of COVID-19 transmission is through contact with those infected. In a video posted on its Twitter account, the GCO has advised people to install Ehteraz app on their smartphone.

“Installing the Ehteraz app on their smartphone is mandatory when leaving the house for any reason, as precautionary measures to limit the spread of COVID-19.” It further said that “Social distancing only involves reducing physical social interaction between people. It is more important than ever to communicate with your friends and family digitally”. “Failure to follow social distancing recommendations puts others at risk and increases the rate of infection,” said the GCO.

Many countries around the world have announced the reopening of many of their economic activities gradually, including Arab countries. Also, places of worship have started to reopen in European and other countries. In a circular recently, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) said that work hours for commercial and service activities are from 7am to 1pm.

The steps are taken within the framework of the preventive and precautionary measures taken in Qatar to contain the COVID-19 outbreak and in line with previous decisions and procedures. However, many activities are excluded from the decision, such as selling food products, consumer goods, subsidised supplies (hypermarkets, supermarkets and groceries), fruits and vegetables etc.

Fuel stations, car services, maintenance companies (electricity, plumbing and electronics services), companies delivering orders through electronic apps, logistics services companies and freight firms operating in ports, airports and customs services, car maintenance workshops affiliated with agencies, pharmacies, companies operating in the hospitality sector, factories, and bakeries were also exempted from it.

Qatar Airways earlier announced that the airline will begin a phased approach to expanding its network in line with passenger demand evolution and the expected relaxation of entry restrictions around the world.

Having maintained flights to at least 30 destinations and to most continents, helping to take over one million people home, the airline has been in a unique position to closely monitor global passenger flows and booking trends to confidently begin planning the gradual reintroduction of additional flights and destinations to its Living with caution during COVID-19 network.

By the end of June, the aim is to have 80 destinations in the schedule including 23 in Europe, four in the Americas, 20 in Middle East/Africa and 33 in AsiaPacific. Many cities will be served with a strong schedule with daily or more frequencies.

The coronavirus has upended daily life, and the idea of travelling to another country seems like a dream for many people. The number of daily flights has fallen by 80 percent since the start of the year.

Even so, attention is now gradually turning to the future and how life will go normal again. Some experts expect that coronavirus will change people’s lives, that things will not return as they were before, and that dependence will be more on technology. But crisis also provides opportunities for more sophisticated and flexible use of technology, and the joy of other simple life. The environment has benefited a lot from low carbon emissions, interest in personal hygiene has increased, as people are now more keen to keep themselves clean. This is in addition to daily hygiene practices. The crisis contributed to stronger family ties, made people re-establish their personal relationships.

An article, published on Foreign Policy website, said: “Most of us are still at a loss at how urban life will look afterwards. Will restaurants survive and jobs come back? Will people still travel in crowded subways? Do we even need office towers when everyone is on Zoom? Come to think of it, the idea of living on a farm seems suddenly attractive.” “Cities thrive on the opportunities for work and play, and on the endless variety of available goods and services. If fear of disease becomes the new normal, cities could be in for a bland and antiseptic future, perhaps even a dystopian one,” it added.