The pandemic of COVID-19 in Qatar is a part of the global pandemic, but the state of Qatar has done and continues to do everything in its power to combat the spread of COVID-19 virus, Qatar has imposed a full lockdown during the peak of the spread of this pandemic, which led to decrease the number of the cases of infected people on daily basis.

The first case of COVID-19 was reported on 27th of February 2020. The highest number of daily cases of COVID-19 was recorded on 30th May 2020, it was 2355 cases. Due to the effective measures taken by Qatar the number of daily reported cases has decreased to 600 cases on the 7th of July 2020, that is why the state has relaxed the lockdown measures and entered phase-1 of lifting the lockdown. 

The most common questions regarding the legal implications of failure to comply to the rules and regulations imposed by government of Qatar to combat this pandemic, are stated and answered below:

Q. What are the penalties imposed by the government to ensure wearing facemasks?

A. Facemask is mandatory now, and violators face jail and fines up to 200,000 Qatari Riyals.

Q. What are the penalties imposed by the government to ensure installation of Ehteraz app in mobiles?

Installation of Ehteraz app in mobiles is mandatory now, and violators face up to 3 years of jail or fine up to 200,000 Qatari Riyals.

Q. What are the penalties imposed by the government in case there is a COVID-19 patient and the doctor doesn’t report it?

A. Reporting a patient of an infected disease is mandatory for doctors, failure to do so will result in imprisonment of the doctor for a period not exceeding three years and a fine not exceeding 200,000 Qatari Riyals, or by either of these two penalties.

Q. What are the penalties imposed by the government in case there is a COVID-19 patient and the family, friends, classmates, faculty members or coworkers doesn’t report it?

A. Reporting a patient of an infected disease is mandatory for family, friends, classmates, faculty members and coworkers, failure to do so will result in imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years and a fine not exceeding 200,000 Qatari Riyals, or by either of these two penalties.

Q. What are the penalties imposed by the government in case a hospital or a clinic violates the rules and regulations set to combat the spread of COVID-19?

A. Abiding by the laws of fight against COVID-19 is mandatory for all the health centers, hospitals and clinics, and failure to do so may result in immediate closure and fines, as the Ministry of Public Health has already investigated and closed a private medical center (clinic) for violating the safety measures instructed by the Ministry of Public Health, pending further investigations.

Q. What are the penalties imposed by the government in case a business entity violates the rules and regulations set to combat the spread of COVID-19?

A. It is mandatory for all businesses to comply and enforce all precautionary measures instructed by the government to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus, especially the precautionary measures, and failure to do so, the violators (or people responsible for the violations) in the business entity may face imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years and a fine of no more than 200,000 Qatari Riyals, or one of these two penalties, as well as penalties stipulated in Labour Law No 14 of 2004 and the ministerial decisions implementing it.