Monkeypox invades Qatar, sparks government panic What will be happen in Doha after the spread of this virus?
The Qatari government is in a state of panic following the spread of monkeypox among individuals and the government’s failure to control the situation, as the virus entered the country through workers coming from West Africa.
Analysts said the spread of the virus in Qatar could threaten the organization of the World Cup or the entire tournament, because the spread of epidemics and diseases among workers who make up a large percentage of the population living in Qatar would scare fans and force them to withdraw from the tournament.
Virus diffusion
An Arab resident in Qatar said viruses and diseases are widespread in the accommodation of African and Asian workers.
He said that the authorities always ignore the health conditions of workers, especially those coming from Africa and Asia.
This is beginning to affect all residents and Qataris after the spread of viruses and epidemics easily to everyone, the latest of which is monkeypox, he said.
A medical source said: “The virus is very prevalent here among workers and is rapidly spreading to residents and Qataris”.
There are major concerns that it has become a pandemic, with the government losing control and hospitals and medical centers ill-equipped to deal with such epidemics, he said.
He added that the coronavirus pandemic has strained the entire health system, amidst government neglect of this matter, as all resources are always allocated to World Cup facilities.
Government concern
Analysts said the Qatari government has great concerns about monkeypox, as the spread of the virus and its transformation into an epidemic would undermine the country’s efforts to organize the World Cup.
Analysts said Qatar will face a major crisis due to the medical negligence of foreign workers, as no country can avoid viruses and epidemics as long as it does not care about the health of workers coming from abroad.
A source within the organizing committee of the World Cup in Qatar confirmed: “It is not reassuring, and the concerns here are limited to the failure of organizing the championship and the reluctance of fans to attend”.
“Everything goes against expectations”, he said. “At first, the housing crisis spread and the state was unable to absorb this number of fans, and the government started to remove workers and residents from their homes”.
All of these things point to the start of the organization’s failure, he said. From the beginning, Qatar does not have the necessary components or infrastructure to allow it to organize such a tournament.
Economic loss
Observers believe that the spread of this virus in Qatar will have a great impact on the economy, because it will spread panic among everyone, as no one can reach a country knowing that it has this epidemic.
Observers said the tourism sector in Qatar will suffer huge losses if monkeypox spreads in the country. Work in many other sectors, especially real estate, will also depend on the country’s ability to be productive.
On the other hand, the spread of monkeypox in light of the poor health conditions of African and Asian workers will not only contribute to its transformation into an epidemic, but will also push workers to leave the country and stop working in some of the construction sectors in the country.
