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Middle East & Africa The Economist April 25th 2020 37
Also in this section
38 A good deal for Bibi in Israel
39 Preventing a food crisis in Africa
40 The death of a Nigerian reformer
The Gulf’s outbreak miles). Workers, put on leave, were allowed
out only to buy food or other essentials.
Covid in the camps State media in Saudi Arabia and the Un-
ited Arab Emirates (uae), which have been
in a diplomatic spat with Qatar since 2017,
enthusiastically covered the outbreak as
proof of Qatari callousness. But the situa-
tion is the same in other Gulf states. The
BEIRUT Saudi health ministry said on April 5th that
Migrant workers in cramped dorms are falling ill
53% of confirmed cases involved foreign-
or well-off foreigners in Qatar, as in dence suggests that the virus is spreading ers. The share is probably higher now: mi-
Fother Gulf states, social distancing is al- fastest among labourers. grants account for about four in five recent
most a way of life. Comfortable salaries pay Qatar has received most attention. On cases. The holy city of Mecca, with a large
for suburban villas or seaside flats; private March 11th it reported 238 cases of the virus population of foreigners, has more con-
cars are ubiquitous. For the labourers who in a single residential compound in the In- firmed infections than Riyadh, a city three
make up the bulk of Qatar’s 2.8m people, dustrial Area, home to more than 360,000 times the size. Doctors in the uae report a
though, it is all but impossible. In the In- people. It sealed off dozens of streets, an similar trend among migrants.
dustrial Area, a working-class district area of nine square kilometres (3.5 square Governments have taken some laudable
south-west of Doha, the capital, some resi- steps. Testing is free for labourers, and
dents sleep eight to a room, with scores of health ministries have been serious about
men sharing bathrooms and kitchens. The hard-working majority expanding it. Qatar has carried out 70,000
Such living conditions are the perfect envi- International migrants, 2019 tests. The uae is doing more than 25,000 a
ronment for a virus to spread. % of population day. Most countries have also pledged to
The six members of the Gulf Co-opera- Migrant population, 2019, m pay for covid-19 treatment regardless of the
tion Council (gcc) acted early to contain 0 20 40 60 80 100 patient’s nationality. But they have done far
the novel coronavirus. By mid-March most UAE 8.6 less about the teeming environments in
had begun to impose restrictions on move- which millions of migrants live and work.
ment and travel. But after weeks of slow Qatar 2.2 Almost everything in Dubai is closed.
growth, new cases are rising quickly. Con- Kuwait 3.0 Anyone leaving home must apply for a per-
firmed infections in Saudi Arabia more Oman mit granted for a few essential purposes.
than doubled in the week from April 14th. 2.3 Only one family member may travel; speed
Qatar has more cases than Ukraine, which Bahrain 0.7 cameras on the highways are used to catch
is 16 times more populous. Although gcc Saudi Arabia 13.1 outlaws. Construction workers are ex-
governments do not release data on the na- Source: UN empted from the lockdown, however. They
tionalities of those infected, anecdotal evi- pile onto buses to and from job sites. Con- 1
