Qatar Coronavirus Updates -- Cases Decreasing but Government Concerned

Daily cases in Qatar are slowly receding, today had 693. Quite the change from not so long ago when >2,000 was happening. Three more deaths today for a total of 113. There are still over 200 people in ICUs in the country so the death toll will continue to rise.

While the total daily case rate is decreasing the Government has noticed a disturbing trend -- the rate of cases amongst Qataris and white-collar expat workers is actually increasing, not decreasing. There is also an increase in family infections, with a person getting infected then infecting family members. The Government has determined that this is primarily due to people socializing or going to majlises and not taking proper safety precautions. I also saw pictures in social media of crowded beaches last weekend (not British or Florida-level crowded, but tons of people went to the beach).

July 1st is Phase 2 of reducing lockdown restrictions and due to the issues around local transmission the Government has announced they are scaling back some of the planned liftings. The main difference was to allow gatherings of up to 10 people, that has now been reduced to five people in an attempt to curb people meeting in majlis or otherwise socializing. I think the June 15 Phase 1 restrictions lifting led some people to think everything is cool and can be back to normal. This isn't over folks!


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July 1st also marks when the EU will release its list of countries that people can visit the EU from, due to those countries having low Covid rates. It has received a lot of coverage because leaks to the press indicated that the United States was definitely NOT on the list. Canada should be though.

Given that one criteria is countries have to have Covid rates similar to the EU there is no way Qatar or any other Middle East country will be on the list. By my estimate Qatar would have to average, over a two week period, fewer than 430 cases a day. Not gonna happen. The EU will revisit the list every two weeks. I doubt Qatar will be on the list by July 15th, but August 1st is a possibility, we'll see. August 15th is a realistic target.



I am willing to bet that EU list will become the standard for most other nations as well, which means going to countries like Canada will also be unlikely.

Qatar Coronavirus Updates -- Sad Milestone

Unfortunately five more people died in the last 24 hours. Qatar has passed 100 deaths from the virus, the total is at 104. Given that Qatar has over 90,000 confirmed cases that is a death toll of 0.11%, which is very low but still it's sad that it happened. The Government warned yesterday that the death toll will increase as people from the peak (when it was 2000+ cases a day) are starting to pass away. Deaths appear to lag cases by 2-4 weeks.

Daily cases have picked up a bit again and have been at 1,000-1,200 a day. The Government has said that they are seeing an increase in cases amongst the Qatari and professional expat population and so reiterated that people need to continue to take precautions. Phase 2 of lifting restrictions isn't until next week but if things start to get worse the Government will reinstate restrictions.

I'm not sure what the 'new normal' will be like for the next few months. I can't see myself going to malls or shops, and the thought of going to a majlis where there are a lot of people would make me anxious. At least gatherings are restricted to ten people during July. I just wish we could see a significant drop in cases to give some confidence that things are definitely subsiding. Yes going from 2,000+ cases to 1,000+ cases is great but that is still a lot of cases in such a small country.

I still have plenty of supplies so I'm not in a rush to get groceries thankfully.

Qatar Coronavirus Updates - Below 1000 Daily Cases now

The case rate keeps going down and today it fell to 881, the first time since early May that there were fewer than 1,000 cases. Recoveries have outpaced new cases for over a week now so I think Qatar is definitely over the peak. Still a ways to go though, 881 cases in a small country like Qatar is a big number. Around a quarter of tests are positive.

Sadly the deaths from the peak are now occurring. Some days it's only one but other days much more, a few days ago seven people died. Total deaths is now at 98. It's shocking seeing the ages of the people who passed, lots in their 40s and 50s, and today someone aged 37 died.

The next phase of lifting restrictions is July 1, so 10 days away. If daily case numbers keep decreasing during that time then it should be alright.

Qatar Coronavirus - A New Drug and Qatar Travel Restrictions Update

Yesterday I noted there were questions around when expats can return from abroad without paying for two weeks of quarantine. According to the quarantine hotel booking site (discoverqatar.qa) it is September 16th but things could change. Just now the Government rolled it back a week, earlier today the website showed September 23rd.

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Now the real excitement. British researchers have discovered a drug, Dexamethasone, a common steroid that is available worldwide, reduces mortality from severe Covid-19 cases. In patients on ventilators deaths went from 40% of cases to 28%, and for patients on oxygen deaths were reduced from 25% to 20%. The drug is cheap and easily accessible, and as it is a steroid it shouldn't have horrible complications or side effects. The first real treatment for Covid that is shown to reduce mortality! It's not a miracle cure but it will save thousands of lives.

That said it does not mean covid-19 is over and everything goes back to normal, a lot of people will still die from the virus. But it's a great start, more drugs are being tested, and this could open up new avenues of research once scientists figure out what specifically about dexamethasone helps patients.

This is why flattening the curve was the right thing to do, buying time. Buying time for hospitals, buying time for treatments to be developed. One or two more drug discoveries and we could be at the point of deterring things until a vaccine is created.

Go Science!

Qatar Coronavirus Updates - Phase 1 of Lifting Restrictions

Just a quick note today. Phase 1 of removing coronavirus lockdown restrictions occurred today. Some mosques are open, as well as some parks, and some malls can open from 8am to 8pm on weekdays (not weekends though) with limits to capacity and the shops that can open. On social media I have seen some videos/pictures of people in the malls. Everyone is wearing masks of course, and you're not allowed in unless you show your Ehteraz app and that it is green.

I'd say shopping is a bit risky, the daily case rate has definitely come down in the last two days but is at more than a 1000 cases a day. That's a lot of cases. I am certainly not planning to go to a mall for a long time, likely August or September. Hopefully the case rate does not increase next week or the restrictions could be put back in place.

There are also questions around when expats can return from abroad without paying for two weeks of quarantine. So far that will be in place for sure until August 31st but that is still going to be an issue for people returning so their kids can start school. Also hotel capacity could be an issue. Typically hundreds of thousands of people leave during the summer, there are not enough hotels rooms for them all if they come back near the end of summer! Now not everyone will leave this year, I know of three families who decided to stay put instead of travel, and some countries have not opened their airports yet, but it could still mean tens (and tens!) of thousands leave instead of hundreds of thousands.

Not an issue that affects me at the moment but we'll see what happens with the quarantine restrictions closer to August.

Qatar Coronavirus Updates (and Economy Update)

I have now found out that the Ehteraz app is indeed a proximity detector. Yesterday I received this message on my phone:

So it appears that someone in my building had contact with a confirmed case so they are self-quarantining (if the person had tested positive they would be at a quarantine center). I was in my apartment so I was not at risk from whomever this was. So the good news is the proximity detector works, the bad news is that because it is someone in my building I am now receiving this message numerous times, today I got it four times so far.

As for the virus, cases are still well over 1,000 a day, today it was 1,500+ but recoveries are now outpacing the new cases most days. There are still over 200 people in ICU and everyday deaths are being reported, although today it was only one. Seventy people have died so far from the virus. On the 15th phase 1 of lifting restrictions occurs but it is not a significant lifting (thankfully). Many mosques will reopen but limit the number of worshippers. I spoke to some friends today and none are planning to attend mosques yet, they will continue to pray at home for the next while.


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The economic downturn caused by the virus and the oil price crash has led the Qatari Government to announce a dramatic change. Ministries, other Government organizations, and entities sponsored by the Government, must slash 30% of expat staff costs effective immediately. It can be salary cuts, layoffs, a mixture of both, it doesn't matter how the 30% reduction is accomplished but it must be done. Qataris will be fine of course, though some Government benefits, such as paying out excess vacation time, will cease for Qataris as well so even citizens will face some impacts.

While this news is perhaps not too surprising, countries like Saudi Arabia recently enacted economic measures like sales tax increases (from 5% to 15%) and removing some worker benefits, this is the first all-around cut by the Qatar Government focusing on expat workers. There are also layoffs in the private sector, announced by companies such as Qatar Airways (~9,000 employees). The oil industry will also surely be laying off people, how many is hard to predict.

The impact will be significant and it will take some time for the economy to adjust. There will be the immediate impact of layoffs but it is the knock-on effect that will be hard to gauge: the already softening rental market will take a hit, private schools will face huge uncertainty regarding enrollment in September, workers who have their pay cut might search for another job and leave when they find one, and consumer spending will definitely take a hit just as the retail sector is gearing up to reopen. Based on experience with the previous oil price crash in 2014 large and expensive goods will face the biggest hit -- no one will buy a new car or furniture if they are uncertain about their job (or took a big pay cut), and bankers are definitely going to be worried about the bank's personal loans and whether people will be able to repay them. Rental housing/apartment construction will likely grind to a near-halt, which means layoffs in the construction sector in the next 3-12 months. So the economy will take time to re-adjust to the new post-lockdown reality.

The oil price is not going to rebound anytime soon and current prices of $35-40 a barrel is not enough to balance the Government's budget, so the cuts are here to stay. It is just a matter of how the economy reacts over the next year. I imagine that other Governments in the Gulf will be watching closely and may implement similar cuts, Kuwait in particular has faced a lot of calls internally to cut the expat workforce in the country.

Qatar Coronavirus Updates -- Government Announces Plan to Lift Restrictions

Yesterday the Government held a press conference to announce the plan for lifting restrictions in Qatar. Soon the presentation/plan was all over social media -- I received three separate copies (two Arabic, one English) within 20 minutes of each other.

The timing might seem a bit odd as Qatar is still in the middle of the peak. Today there were 1,721 new cases and, sadly, five people died, the most that have died in a single day yet. However in the last three days the number of daily recoveries has been roughly the same as the number of new cases. The Government pointed out how everyone's efforts truly did flatten the curve so there is a manageable caseload over a longer period of time, ultimately preventing a situation like what occurred in Italy, Spain or Wuhan.

I think one of the reasons for announcing the plan now is to reassure people. The school term is about to end for the summer and this is when hundreds of thousands leave the searing heat for long vacations either back home or in more temperate places. Problem though, currently expats can leave Qatar but cannot return. When will that be lifted? Will the country then require two-week quarantines? What about the next school year, will kids go back to school? And when can businesses plan to reopen? I think that is why the Government announced the plan now, so that everyone can plan accordingly. It is not because the virus is subsiding now. The plan covers the entire summer, it's not like everything will be open next week.


The Government will do a 4-phase rollout:

Phase 1 - June 15th: some mosques can open, as can some shops and malls, but with restrictions as to capacity. On an essential basis an expat can leave and return to Qatar but they are subject to two-week quarantine at a hotel (and the person must pay for the hotel stay). Private clinics can have limited opening (with capacity and other restrictions).

Phase 2 - July 1st: Gatherings of up to 10 people can now be held, parks & beaches (but not playgrounds) open, all malls can open with capacity restrictions, some restaurants as well, offices can have up to 50% of staff working in the building (originally 20%).

Phase 3 - August 1st: Gatherings of up to 40 people, expats returning from low-risk areas might not require quarantine, playgrounds open, increased capacity for malls & restaurants & private clinics, gyms and barbershops can now open at reduced capacity. Offices can have 80% of the workforce at the premises.

Phase 4 - September 1st: Restrictions essentially lifted (I'm guessing except for things like wearing masks and social distancing). Expats returning from high-risk areas might need quarantine.



So the Government appears to think the virus will have subsided significantly by August, which seems reasonable. The phase timings are subject to change of course if things suddenly get worse.

The timing of opening barbers is important as August 1st will be during Eid Al-Adha. Traditionally people wear new clothes and have haircuts at that time to look their best so barbers will be in high demand.

It also does mean I will be in my apartment until August at least. Friends are already planning small majlis gatherings in July and I might go occasionally depending on if things start to settle down in Qatar. Luckily I also have plans to go on vacation in mid-August and return in early September, so hopefully everything goes in accordance with the Government plan so that I'll be able to return.

The Qatar Blockade -- Now Three Years

With all the craziness going on in 2020 I am willing to bet most people outside of the Middle East forgot that Qatar is still under a blockade by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt. It has been three years now since that day it was declared.

Needless to say everyone here is used to this 'new normal' and life has moved on. Three years ago when it first happened it was a nervous time. Was Qatar going to be invaded? Will there be a war? I got a bit jumpy whenever I heard military planes flying overhead. But everything settled into a blockade.

Over time Qatar pushed for a lot more self-sufficiency. There is now a dairy farm for milk, greenhouses for vegetables, warehouses for storing extra foods, factories to produce things domestically that were once imported, new Qatar Airways routes, the Qatari Government really stepped up during the crisis and got things happening. It was actually impressive how quickly they adapted to the blockade and changed how they did things.

This served Qatar well during the pandemic. There was already plenty of food in warehouses, factories producing sanitizer, and I'm willing to bet many of the field construction and other medical plans were part of their preparations in case the blockade got ugly, which they them implemented for the pandemic instead. If you look at my blog posts from March you'll read about all the stuff they were doing to prepare for the pandemic, while other countries were in denial or telling people to inject disinfectant. That 18,000-bed quarantine centre seemed like an overreaction when the Government announced it -- but they were right and by May it was needed.

Will the blockade ever end? Not in the short-term I doubt. Some of my friends were upbeat about some diplomatic developments but I have heard this sort of thing numerous times over the years and am skeptical it will resolve things. The biggest issue is how to end this yet have everyone save face? Saudi/UAE sent a list of demands three years ago, Qatar complied with none of them, and since then it's been a propaganda war with media in the blockading countries saying all sorts of things about Qatar. That will be hard to step back from and go, "oops, sorry about that".


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In Coronavirus news the Government loosened some restrictions. People can exercise outside without a mask (maintain distancing though), restrictions on the number of people in a car has been lifted, and most retail shops are now allowed to open except personal services such as barbers and spas. I don't think shops in malls are allowed to open yet though (I could be wrong). Lifting the restrictions is at an odd time, new cases are still 1500-2000 a day. Four people died today as well (49 total) so Qatar is not over the peak yet. Maybe the Ehteraz app is working well and allowing the Government to trace cases better. No changes to expat travel -- expats can leave if they wish but cannot enter the country.

Anyway, I'm still staying home.

Qatar Coronavirus Updates -- Most Cases per Capita in the World

New cases are fluctuating, sometimes 1600ish, sometimes over 2000 a day. 1,901 new cases were announced today for a total of 62,160. Over 2% of the population have been diagnosed with the virus now, a greater % of detected cases than any other country.

Deaths are also occurring at a rate of 2-3 a day. 45 have died so far. It's the age ranges that worry me sometimes, people in their 40s and 50s are succumbing to the virus. It was expected though, because most of the population are working expats deaths would tend to be in the younger age range so be more infrequent than in the West. The death rate is still incredibly low given the number of cases.

The huge spate of recoveries has slowed. It turns out that international protocols changed: instead of releasing someone from quarantine after a series of negative tests, they can be released after 14 days of the first positive test. This resulted in something like 15,000 people being released from quarantine over four days. Now recoveries will mirror how many were diagnosed two weeks ago (today was 1,501). It should take some pressure off of the quarantine facilities at least.

Not really seeing a decline yet. Staying put at home. A friend bought me groceries during one of his shopping runs so I am set for at least six more weeks without needing to leave the apartment.

What I Get Up to Staying at Home

Decided to see how my new "lockdown beard" works with a Qatari thobe and gurtra.

Qatar Coronavirus Updates – Steady, Likely at the Peak

Daily cases were high but holding steady at 1500-1800 a day. Today however was a new record, 1,967, and the total cases is at 50,914. However the number of cases recovering each day exceeded the new cases for the first time, at 2,116. Typically 1,300-1,600 were recovering each day now so, with luck, over the next week it will reach a point where recoveries consistently exceed new cases, and the curve will start to decline.

With the increase in cases the number of deaths is increasing. The last few days 2-4 people are dying a day. Total deaths is now at 33. Recall that nine days ago it was 15 deaths. One of the people who died today was 25 years old.

While all of this is tragic Qatar did manage to achieve a key goal. Remember how in March and April it was all about "flattening the curve" to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. Well the countries efforts appeared to have bought it a lot of time -- at least two months to prepare. While the virus ravaged Europe, then America, Qatar had relatively few cases so had time for preparing hospitals, quarantine facilities, back-up plans in case the current hospitals get full, and so forth. In addition, because the emergency is starting to recede in Europe, if things get really bad Qatar will likely be able to call on resources from Europe such as ventilators and medical personnel. Last month Qatar had been sending medical supplies to countries such as Italy to assist them with the outbreak so I'm sure they'd return the favour if needed. Over 200 people are currently in ICU but Qatar still has space in the hospitals for more patients. Had this happened in March it might have been a bigger problem for medical services.

The Government also announced the lifting of a restriction. Starting June 1st the ban on Qatari citizens travelling will be lifted and they will be allowed to leave the country. Currently Qataris were only allowed to fly into the country (and be quarantined by the Government for two weeks) but not allowed to leave the country. Expats were always able to leave but were not allowed to return into Qatar (that restriction is still in place). This is why India has been able to have repatriations flights for its citizens. The effort has ramped up and now there are something like 7-10 flights a week to take Indians back home. Other countries such as Nepal did not close their airports so did not need the huge repatriation efforts that India is doing -- Qatar Airways is still flying to many countries so if there are flights then a citizen from that country can just take the Qatar flight home.

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A note on hot weather and the virus. Qatar has the highest number of cases per capita in the world after micronation San Marino (and Qatar will likely pass them in about 3-4 days to have the highest per capita cases in the world). The average high here is 42 degrees Celsius. Hot weather is not preventing the virus spread. If anyone tells you about hot weather killing the virus tell them about Qatar. People hoped that Covid-19 would be similar to "regular" flu and subside in the summer but it appears to have been wishful thinking.


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I have essentially been in my apartment for 72 days now. I'm doing okay, not going as stir crazy as many people are. I'm a person who enjoys solitude and living on my own so that helps. No need for a grocery run either -- a friend just picked up some groceries for me during his grocery run. I shouldn't even need to go get groceries until the virus subsides here. A haircut would be nice though.

Eid Mubarak Everyone

Well, Ramadan is officially over. Eid Al-Fitr has begun and now I can eat during the day again. I celebrated with an oatmeal breakfast and coffee this morning (at home of course).

It is so strange going through Ramadan without doing any of the usual activities:

Watching them fire the Ramadan Cannon
Watching the Corniche car parade
Meeting friends for iftars or sohours at hotels
Going to Katara to watch the Garangao celebrations
Going to empty malls in the afternoon, or marveling at the crowded malls around midnight

None of that happened this year.

The Government is worried about Eid of course, a time when people do lots of visiting to friends and relatives. The Government is encouraging people to forego personal visits this year to prevent the spread of the virus. I hope many will listen but I am not too sure. The Government has a right to be concerned, coronavirus cases have been 1500-1800+ per day this week and the number of hospitalizations and deaths are rising. In the last two days four people have died, bringing the total to 23. Things are still quite serious here.


Tonight my friends and I will meet in a virtual majlis. It is the only way to safely do Eid-celebrating right now.

Qatar Coronavirus Update -- The Gov't is Serious About the App

Another day and sadly another record, 1,830 cases detected in Qatar in the last 24 hours. At least the daily recoveries are picking up, it's now around 600-900 a day. Unfortunately it is not outpacing new cases and the number of people in hospitals, and admitted to ICU, keeps growing. A Ministry spokesman noted that a patient admitted to ICU is there for two to three weeks, even longer if they have other underlying illnesses.

Also, sadly, two more people passed away, bringing the number to 19. The two who died were aged 50 and 43, around my age! Just a reminder of why one needs to be careful.

Today is the day that people in Qatar must have downloaded and started using the Ehteraz tracker app. And the Government is not kidding about this. I went out this afternoon to pick up an iftar meal from my Qatari friend and his father and to my surprise came across a police checkpoint on the road. The police were asking everyone to show the Ehteraz app working on their phones! I assume they were also checking that everyone was wearing masks, no more than two to a car etc, but that is easy enough to check. So I had to open my phone and show them that I had the app and that it was working.


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Tomorrow is likely the last day of Ramadan. It was so odd spending it at home. When the virus restrictions started happening I figured it would be over before Ramadan. How wrong I was.

Two Months of Staying in the Apartment

I have now been in my apartment for two months. Aside from one trip to the grocery store, and picking up iftar meals from that kind Qatari gentleman, I have not left the apartment, not even for a walk around the neighbourhood.

Enjoy this before and after photos of me:

Yes I could trim the beard but I like growing it as a 'legacy' of this difficult time. I just wish I could straighten it instead of my beard being this semi-wavy mess. After this is all over I might keep the beard if I can neaten it up a little.


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As required by the Government I downloaded the Ehteraz coronavirus tracking app. It does have some nice features:

Here's the main screen showing my health status. Green means 'good health', i.e. the Government is not aware of you having the virus or are at risk of having it. The color would change if you were in quarantine or confirmed to have it. The colour will go grey if you are suspected to be exposed. I think if the Government detects a case of the virus then they will use the app to determine who was near the person at which point they will turn your colour grey and you'll probably receive a notice to go get tested.

The latest daily case information is available on the app.

And announcements by the Ministry of Public Health are sent directly to you, with notifications appearing on your phone when a message comes in.


Hopefully the app helps the Government get a handle on the outbreak. One more person died today and more people have been placed in ICU.

Qatar Coronavirus Updates – Might be at the Peak (I hope)

Qatar continues to have significant daily cases, anywhere from 1100-1600+ a day. Today was 1,637. Large numbers but relatively stable. Maybe this is the peak?

The Ministry of Health is now providing additional statistics with the daily reports (covid19.moph.gov.qa) including the number of tests, hospitalizations and so forth. There are almost 30,000 active cases now and 1,452 are in hospital, with 163 people in ICU. Despite the increase in hospitalizations the number of deaths is still low. One more person passed away a couple of days ago, bringing the total to 15.

What is worrisome is that 4,487 tests were done yesterday, which means over a third of tests came back positive.




Ramadan is almost over, I think Eid Al-Fitr is the 23rd or 24th. The Government has announced additional restrictions:

a. Shops will be closed until May 30th, except grocery stores and pharmacies. I think restaurants can still do pick-up and delivery.

b. Everyone now has to download an app on their phone, Ehteraz, that will allow the Government to track movements to improve contact tracing. It apparently will also alert you if you are near someone who has the virus or possibly has it. (I think the Government updates a colour code depending on your status and the app then warns others nearby?). It used to be voluntary to use the app but it will now be mandatory.

c. Limits to the number of passengers in vehicles, including buses.

And I mentioned in my last post that wearing masks is now mandatory pretty much at all times if you are outside the house. You could face fines and up to three years in jail if you don’t, which generated a bit of internet buzz and got some international media coverage. I think the penalty is there to discourage Qataris, at least the ones that are rich enough to laugh off any fine.

The upcoming Eid holiday has been extended to support the business closures. Typically for Eid Al-Fitr banks are closed for three days but the Central Bank announced this year it will be five days, Sunday the 24th to Thursday the 28th. I have never seen the Central Bank ever do longer than three business days for Eid Al-Fitr. This means banks will essentially be closed for nine days including the weekends. Government offices will be closed longer than that. And I already mentioned that stores will be closed until May 30th.


The country will not be relaxing restrictions anytime soon I’m afraid.

Qatar Coronavirus Update -- Over 28,000 Total Cases

Today was another record unfortunately, with 1,733 new cases in one day. Total cases is 28,272. No one has died in the last few days so the death toll is still at 14.

The virus must be spreading heavily in neighbourhoods and compounds with low-wage workers. The crowded conditions are ideal for spreading the virus. I can't see how else it would be spreading at such a rate as to infect over 1500 a day. The Government has now announced that as of Sunday wearing masks at all times is mandatory for everyone when they are outside their home (except when driving a car on your own)

Hospital space is still fine and the Government continues to open more facilities. Recently they opened up a 500 bed recovery unit for people who have been through the worst and want to recover in a facility instead of self-quarantining at home. The article gives some insight as to why it seems to take 4-5 weeks for a case to fully recover. In Qatar after a person has been deemed fit to leave the Covid-19 hospitals (there's four of them now) the person must still isolate for two more weeks, only after that they will be considered recovered if they no longer test positive for the virus. So if a person spends 2-3 weeks in hospital they still have 2 weeks of quarantine to go before being declared recovered.

At the moment Qatar has the highest per capita infection rate in the world (behind micronations San Marino and the Vatican) but one of the lowest death rates. I explained in earlier posts it is likely due to the demographics, the majority of the population in Qatar are expat workers in their 20s-40s so are less susceptible to complications from Covid-19. Interestingly I think this plays out when you look at the other nearby countries:



Qatar has 2.8m people and Qataris make up only 10-12% of the population so there are a limited number of elderly in the country. There are some expat elderly here but not a lot. 28,272 cases, 14 deaths.

UAE has 10m people and a similar local population, Emiratis are around 10% or so of the people in the country. But the UAE has a much more extensive property development market, especially in Dubai, so has a greater population of elderly people from other countries who live/retire there. 21,084 cases, 208 deaths

Kuwait is about 4.7m, doesn't attract expats with property developments but the population is about 30-40% Kuwaiti so there are also more elderly. 11,975 cases, 88 deaths

Bahrain's population is 1.4m and about 50% local but its death rate is lower than places like UAE and Kuwait. 6,069 cases, 10 deaths.

Saudi Arabia's population is larger than all of the others combined at ~30m and is about 65% local. 46,869 cases, 283 deaths.



My self-isolation continues, it's been over 50 days now, I think 56, and it's not going to end anytime soon.

Qatar Coronavirus Update - over 1,100 new cases a day now!

In the last four days the number of daily cases has been over 1,100, and on one of those days it was 1,311 -- the highest amount of cases in one day yet.

Is this the peak? I sure hope so cause this is getting wild. Qatar is at 23,623 cases now. If the 1000+ cases a day continues then in 4-5 days a full 1% of the population will have had the virus (28,000 cases is 1%). That is A LOT! It's the equivalent of 3.3 million cases in the US or 350,000 cases in Canada. Neither country is close to that, at least under the official figures.

Two more people have unfortunately passed away, bringing the total to 14. It's tragic, but I guess a lot of countries wish their death rate would be that low.

Recoveries per day are still in the 100-200 range so it hasn't come close to the number of new cases discovered. That means more strain on health resources. However most of the cases are mild and don't need hospitalization, a couple of days ago a Ministry of Health spokesman said that there are still plenty of beds available for treating patients, and plans are in place to open more if needed. Mass testing of potential contacts of existing cases are discovering the mild cases.

At this rate it will be a long time before restrictions in Qatar are loosened. European countries are either talking about it or have already relaxed some restrictions. Canada as well. Qatar isn't even planning it yet. I can't blame them though.

14 Years in Qatar

With all of the Coronavirus isolation I completely forgot that as of May 1st I have been in Qatar for 14 years! I did not plan that at all, for all I knew I would be here 3-5 years then moved on. I'm glad I stayed and personally don't have plans to leave yet. Of course if I lose my job that's another story but so far so good. We'll see how the economic downturn due to low oil prices pans out over the next year.

10 years ago I had some black-and-white photos taken by a photographer so today I figured I would recreate the poses to see how much I've aged over the decade. I couldn't get the lighting the same, and my 'lockdown beard' adds a few years, but it was an interesting contrast.

Here's hoping there'll be a few more years here.

Ramadan 2020 - Traditional Iftar Meal

Day 42 of isolation in the apartment. But yesterday I was chatting with a friend on the phone and invited me to stop by his family's majlis today to pick up some food for iftar so that have some traditional Qatari iftar food. Every Ramadan my friend's father makes extra food for iftar that he gives away to people. Since quickly going to a majlis didn't seem too risky to me I decided to head out to pick up the food. It would be a pleasant change from the lockdown food I have been eating for the last seven weeks, especially meat. The only animal protein that I've been eating is the occasional can of tuna.

When I arrived at the majlis there were dozens of containers waiting for people to pick them up. When my friend said his father makes extra food for people he wasn't kidding -- there was probably enough food to feed over 100 people. And the family does this every day of Ramadan. After chatting a bit with my friend and his father (from a safe distance) I picked up my food, thanked them kindly for the meal, and headed home for iftar.

Here is the food. It was indeed a lot of traditional food. From left to right is some harees, desserts, curried chicken on rice, some samosas (that's not its name in Arabic but I can't remember what it is) and some thareed. You don't know what harees and thareed are? That's okay, I have a blog post from 2013 that explains it.

It was nice to have something different for dinner, the thareed especially was quite nice. It was a lot of food though, it will last me at least four meals.


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Today is also the Qatari holiday of Garangao, which is in the middle of Ramadan (more information here). Sadly with the restrictions in place kids will not really be able to celebrate it. I think some places are offering 'virtual garangao' but I'm not really sure how that would work.


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Coronavirus update: Things are unfortunately holding steady. Over 900 cases today, but no deaths thankfully. Over a hundred are recovering every day but there's over 16,000 in quarantine now. I'm not sure when the curve will peak.

Stay safe everyone.

Qatar Coronavirus Update - Day 40 of Isolating, Cases Are Still High

Day 42 and in Qatar things have still not settled. Cases are up-and-down, 600+ one day, 700+ another. Today was 951 new cases for a total of 17,142. It's a lot given the size of the population. A website called worldometers has been keeping track and I sorted their table by "Total Cases per 1m population" (click on the photo for a clearer view):

Qatar is fifth on the table and the only ones above it are small countries with fewer than 700,000 people (fewer than 100,000 if we remove Luxembourg), where even a handful of cases could cause the per million number to skyrocket. I expect Qatar to be fourth on the table tomorrow. However deaths in Qatar are stable at 12, one of the lowest mortality rates in the world.

The virus is spreading mostly through worker dormitories and neighbourhoods, the crowded conditions cause the virus to spread rapidly. Qatar is focusing on contact testing so as they discover cases they test the people they are in contact with, or even entire dormitories. As Qatar tests them they are finding around 25-35% of people tested have the virus.

I think because the majority of cases are workers in compounds/dorms some people here are getting a false sense of security and figuring they will be fine since the virus is concentrated in certain areas. People seem to forget just how ubiquitous these workers are in Qatar. Yes they might live in a compounds or dormitories but during the day they're out working in malls, restaurants, parks, offices, construction sites, everywhere. And given the young age of most workers many of them will not have any symptoms of the virus, yet they can still unknowingly spread it. One should not be reckless and assume it's low risk because the virus is spreading amongst South Asian workers. Qataris are getting the virus as well.

Qatar is now implementing a random sample testing of the population. About 2500 people will be contacted by the Ministry to show up at a health centre for a survey and then be tested for the virus (this can apparently be done from your car). This is being done likely as a measure to see if the virus is in the population unknown to the contact tracers. It's a good idea and random sampling should continue.



In other coronavirus news India is going to allow special flights into the country in order to repatriate Indian stranded abroad. I think at the moment India's not allowing commercial flights into the country leaving a lot of people who want to return stranded in other countries. The Indian government expects to repatriate about 14,000 people over the next week and there will be two flights from Qatar. It's a nice gesture but it's a drop in the bucket -- in Qatar alone 40,000 Indians have registered with the embassy to be repatriated. In the UAE it is nearly 200,000.


Stay safe everyone!