The Government Communications Office released a statement on Monday suspending all public and private schools and universities in Qatar as part of their measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. This decision was implemented on March 10, 2020.

All Education City universities have followed this procedure. According to an email announcement released by Craig LaMay, the acting dean of Northwestern University in Qatar, classes are postponed “until further notice.” The announcement stated that students and student workers should not attend university, while faculty and staff will continue to attend as usual. All classes will also resume online beginning next Sunday, March 15.  

This cautionary procedure comes after Qatar had confirmed 18 cases of the disease in the country. The number of cases has since increased, reaching 262. The Ministry of Public Health tweeted that all those infected are in stable condition.

حيث أن كافة الحالات المعلنة تتمتع بحاله صحية جيدة جدا ويتلقون الرعاية الطبية بمركز الأمراض الانتقالية.
وتحث وزارة الصحة، كافة الجهات والأفراد على اتباع الإجراءات الوقائية لضمان سلامتهم وسلامة مجتمعهم، والرجوع إلى الموقع الالكتروني للوزارة https://t.co/r5NIeM4nsC للاطلاع

— وزارة الصحة العامة (@MOPHQatar) March 11, 2020

 The World Health Organization declared earlier today that the outbreak of COVID-19 is a pandemic.  “In the past two weeks, the number of cases of COVID-19 outside [China] has increased 13-fold [and] the number of affected countries has tripled,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chief of WHO in a media briefing on COVID-19. 

“In the past two weeks, the number of cases of #COVID19 outside 🇨🇳 has increased 13-fold & the number of affected countries has tripled.

There are now more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries, & 4,291 people have lost their lives”-@DrTedros #coronavirus

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 11, 2020

Some of the other measures that Qatar has taken, prior to this announcement,  is the temporary ban on flights from 14 infected countries. The countries include Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, and Thailand, according to GCO.

The GCO reiterated some of the safety procedures that people should follow, like avoiding crowded public places, avoiding travel unless necessary, and to follow the measures suggested by MoPH on their website.

There is a designated page for updates on the state of COVID-19 in the country that people could follow. If there is a suspected case or enquiry about the virus, people can reach out to this number provided by MoPH (16000).