As part of the host nation’s regulations to combat COVID-19, fans travelling to the World Cup in Qatar are required to arrive with results of a COVID-19 test that are negative, according to the organisers on Thursday.
Qatar announces that World Cup fans will have to take COVID-19 test
The government-run Ehteraz mobile app, which tracks people’s whereabouts and health status, must also be downloaded by all visitors who are 18 years of age or older.
The World Cup’s organisers stated that entering any public, enclosed venues required a green Ehteraz (proving the user does not have a verified case of COVID-19). Visitors must be able to present a negative PCR test result from 48 hours before to arrival or a positive result from a 24-hour approved quick test. In a statement, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy stated that visitors aged six and older must submit to COVID-19 testing “regardless of individual’s vaccination status.
Rapid antigen tests completed within the preceding 24 hours of arrival in Qatar will only be acceptable if they were performed by authorised medical facilities rather than by the individual. If no COVID-19 symptoms appear in spectators in Qatar, no more testing is necessary.
The choices apply to all visitors coming in Qatar as part of the World Cup public health measures, which have been in effect since September 4.
According to statistics obtained since 2020 by Johns Hopkins University in the United States, Qatar has reported approximately 450,000 verified cases of COVID-19 and 682 deaths from the illness. There are at least 2.5 million people living in Qatar, although only roughly 350,000 of them are Qataris.
According to the data, more than 97% of Qatar’s population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination. World Cup organisers stated that “anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 while in Qatar will be compelled to isolate in accordance with Ministry of Public Health requirements.”
