First travel corridor between Qatar and Turkey established

Qatar’s Embassy in Ankara announced the establishment of a travel corridor from Turkey to Doha.

According to the announcement, four coronavirus testing centres have been approved in Turkey to allow Qatari nationals to avoid the two-week quarantine upon arrival in qatar.

سفارة قطر في تركيا @QatarEmb_Ankara تعلن استثناء المواطنين القطريين القادمين من الجمهورية التركية من اجراءات الحجر الفندقي الالزامي في دولة قطر ، شريطة الحصول على شهادة تثبت عدم اصابة المسافر بـ #فيروس_كورونا.#جريدة_الوطن_القطرية #الدوحة #قطر pic.twitter.com/jiPX0fm0Pi

— جريدة الوطن (@al_watanQatar) July 6, 2020

The corridor currently only operates in one direction and is only open to Qatari nationals, it added.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) said citizens wishing to travel to Qatar from Turkey will be allowed passage as long as they have been tested for COVID-19 and been found not to have been infected.

The four hospitals that are authorized to undertake coronavirus tests for Qatari citizens are Ankara Sehir hospital, Yesilkoy Murat Dilmener Emergency Hospital, Basaksehir Cam ve Sakura Sehir hospital and Kartal Dr. Litfi Kirdar hospital.

Tests must be taken no longer than 48 hours prior to travel, with negative results giving the citizens a ‘COVID-free’ certificate to allow them to travel without quarantine.

READ: Turkey handed economic boost by Qatar

It is stated that Qatar’s MOPH is seeking reliable medical centres for COVID-19 tests in other countries too.

Qatar has been the second-worst affected country in the Gulf, with more than 100,000 cases recorded since the start of the outbreak, trailing behind Saudi Arabia.

In Qatar, the Health Ministry said 608 more people contracted the virus while 1,204 patients recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours.

Qatar’s total infections stand at 101,553 – including 138 deaths and 96,107 recoveries.