COVID-19 quarantine period in Qatar reduced to seven days

Quarantine period

The Ministry of Public Health has reduced the mandatory period of isolation and sick leave for confirmed COVID-19 cases from 10 days to 7 days.

Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 on a test done at medical facilities and whose Ehteraz changes to red status, will automatically be eligible for 7 days sick-leave. These individuals will be required to have a rapid antigen test at a medical facility authorized by the Ministry on day 7. If the result of this test is negative, the individual’s Ehteraz status will change to green and they will be able to leave isolation and return to work on day 8.

If the day 7 rapid antigen test is positive, the individual must undergo a further 3 days of isolation and will be given additional 3 days of sick-leave and they are free to leave isolation on day 11 with no requirement for a further test.

The Ministry stated that the decision to reduce the isolation period has been made following a review of the latest local and international clinical evidence showing that most people will be negative by day 7 and pose low or no risk of transferring the virus to others.

The Ministry stressed the need for people to follow the standard precautionary measures when ending their isolation period. This includes wearing a mask as per the government policy, maintaining social distancing and good hand hygiene.