June 26 – About 1,100 construction workers on 2022 World Cup projects have tested positive for Covid-19 with one worker, a 51-year old Filipino electrical engineer, having died of the virus on June 11.
There are currently about 17,000 construction workers on World Cup sites but that number is fast reducing as stadia complete. The Qatar build is now reckoned to be more than 80% complete with last week seeing the official opening the Education City Stadium, the third of eight stadia for the 2022 World Cup.
The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy emphasised in a statement that it has been following strict government guidelines on public health as well as having put in its own “robust mitigation measures” early in the crisis “which have contributed significantly towards reducing the spread of Covid-19 amongst the workforce on SC projects”.
The statement said that the situation is being monitored on a daily basis.
While the rate of infection within the construction workforce looks high, the number of deaths from Covid-19 look remarkably low. It is not clear whether this is predominantly due to a younger and fitter workforce on the construction sites or the strain of the virus that is being contracted.
Workers who test positive are isolated until they test negative with all healthcare provided free of charge and with no loss of income.
To date there have been 92,784 cases of the coronavirus in Qatar with 109 deaths.
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