"We are now seeing over 500 new cases every day and it is likely this number will increase over the next 10 to 14 days."

Tribune News Network

Doha

Qatar is witnessing a new wave of coronavirus infection, said Dr Abdullatif Al Khal, chair of the National Health Strategic Group on COVID-19 and head of Infectious Diseases at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC).

Addressing a press conference held in Doha on Wednesday, he said the number of COVID-19 cases is not decreasing, despite the measures currently in place. Seven people died due to COVID-19 in the past seven days, Dr Khal noted."We are now seeing over 500 new cases every day and it is likely this number to increase over the next 10 to 14 days."He attributed the spike in new infections to new strains, family visits and failure to follow precautionary measures.Recently, cases of infection with the South African strains have been recorded, he said.“The new strain does not cause different symptoms, but it is more likely to spread among individuals, and some evidence indicates that the new strain may cause severe disease.”Currently, Qatar has more than 13,500 active cases of coronavirus and more than 1,200 people are under treatment for the infection.On the vaccination front, more than 650,000 doses have been administered to date, with nearly 20,000 doses being given to people every day.Acting Head of the Intensive Care Department at the Hamad Medical Corporation and Acting Medical Director for Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital Dr Ahmed Al Muhammad said the UK variant of the virus, as well as lack of commitment to precautionary measures by some members of the public, contributed to the surge in new cases in Qatar.However, he warned that the new strains of virus detected in Qatar might further increase the number of daily infections.“We are in the midst of the second wave and the new strain is more severe and this requires cooperation, solidarity and commitment to precautionary measures,” he added.There is an increase in the number of critical cases and cases that require admission to hospital as a result of infection with the new strains, he said.