| All the following decisions will come into effect from Thursday and remain in place for two weeks. During this period, the situation will be evaluated to take the appropriate decision. * 80% of employees in private sector to work from home starting Thursday * Earlier decision to reduce number of employees present at the workplace in government agencies extended * Workplace timings for remaining workers in both government and private sectors will be six hours per day, from 7am to 1pm * Stores selling foodstuff, pharmacies and restaurants that do deliveries excluded from this decision * Meetings in both government and private sectors shall be held remotely using modern technology * Cabinet decides to stop home services provided by cleaning and hospitality companies * Number of workers transported by bus will have to be reduced to half the capacity of the vehicle |
Eighty per cent of the employees in the private sector will have to work from home starting Thursday as part of the government's efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the Cabinet has decided.
Also, workplace timings in both the government and private sectors will be six hours-from 7am to 1pm, from Thursday.
These were among other measures decided upon at the Cabinet meeting chaired by HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani on Wednesday through video-conference, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
HE the Minister of Justice and Acting Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Dr Issa bin Saad al-Jafali al-Nuaimi later issued a statement giving the details of the meeting.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Cabinet heard the explanation given by HE the Minister of Public Health on the latest developments to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
The Cabinet affirmed the continuation of the precautionary measures taken to “combat the epidemic and complement the decisions and actions taken previously”, and accordingly decided to take a slew of measures, QNA said.
It decided to extend the decision taken on March 18 to reduce the number of employees present at public sector offices.
It was decided to slash the number of workers present in the private sector to 20% of the total in each organisation, and allow 80% of the rest of the workers work remotely from their homes.
Working hours for both the government and private sectors employees have been fixed as six hours -from 7am to 1pm- per day.
Stores selling foodstuff, pharmacies and restaurants that do deliveries are excluded from this decision. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), in co-ordination with the authorities concerned, shall determine the other necessary activities exempted from this decision.
All meetings held for employees and workers in the government and private sectors shall be held remotely using modern technical means. If this is not possible, and in case of necessity, the meeting shall be held with no more than five persons while taking into account the preventive measures determined by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH).
Further, the Cabinet decided to stop the home services provided by cleaning and hospitality companies.
Also, the number of workers transported by bus will have to be reduced to half the capacity of the vehicle after taking the necessary precautionary measures.
It was also noted that the MoCI continues to intensify inspection procedures for food outlets to ensure their compliance with health requirements and preventive and precautionary measures, including leaving adequate distance between shoppers.
These decisions will come into effect from Thursday and remain in place for two weeks. During this period, the situation will be evaluated to take the appropriate decision. The relevant authorities - each within its competence – will take the necessary measures to implement these decisions.
After this, the Cabinet approved a draft decision of HE the Minister of Commerce and Industry on the terms and conditions of registration on the list of major suppliers and the list of registered merchants dealing in strategic commodities.
It also approved a draft decision of HE the Minister of Commerce and Industry to define the list of strategic commodities.
The MoCI has prepared the two projects referred to in the framework of issuing the necessary decisions to activate the provisions of Decree Law No. 24 for 2019 to organise and manage the strategic stock of food and consumer goods.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet reviewed the following two topics and took the appropriate decision: a study prepared by the Permanent Population Committee regarding a report on the state of Qatar’s population (2019), in the light of the observations made on the report; and a letter by HE the Minister of Commerce and Industry on the results of the fifth session of the Qatari-Kazakh Joint Higher Committee.
Exclusions
The decisions taken by the Cabinet on Wednesday to extend the earlier decision to reduce the number of employees present at the workplace in government agencies; fix work timings in the government and private sectors to six working hours per day (7am to 1pm); and hold meetings in the government and private sectors remotely with the use of modern technology (and if this is not possible, to hold such meetings with no more than five persons while taking into account the preventive measures determined by the MoPH), exclude the following sectors: Military, Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic missions’ employees, Health, Oil and gas, Employees of government agencies whose nature of work requires their presence, according to what is decided by the head of the competent authority, and Workers in major State projects
