Despite coronavirus, it's 'business as usual' for World Cup workers in Qatar

[Nat]

Migrant labourers building stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar are still being sent to work on crowded construction sites, despite a government order outlawing “all forms of gatherings” because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Such a condition would be nearly impossible to meet in Qatar, where workers live in crowded labour camps, sharing dormitories, often with eight to 10 others, and are transported to work in company buses crammed with up to 60 people.

“I worry a lot about getting the virus, but I need the money,” said one Kenyan construction worker, not employed on a World Cup project, who works 14-hour shifts. He said he wears gloves and a mask at work but it is not enough. “Only God is enough,” he added.

A Nepalese labourer building a car park said his blood pressure is checked before each shift. “I use a face mask, which I bought myself. Those who don’t have a mask cover their mouth with a piece of cloth,” he said.

Last week, the Qatari authorities announced a “ban on all forms of gatherings … including but not limited to the Corniche, public parks, beaches and social gatherings”, but despite an almost total shutdown of gyms, cinemas, shopping malls and banks, the ruling appears not to apply to construction workers and others in the private sector.

Despite coronavirus, it's 'business as usual' for World Cup workers in Qatar

As the Gulf state outlaws ‘all forms of gatherings’, migrant workers continue to toil on construction sites

www.theguardian.com

 

[PGen98]

If you've done any research into what's going on with the Qatari labour force working on the world cup stadiums this comes as absolutely no shock and it's disgraceful. They need to move the World Cup, they really do...

 

[RedmondG]

I actually came through Qatar airport last week and I was shocked!

No people were wearing mask or anything ...