Qatar's cabinet on Wednesday told private sector companies in the Gulf state to direct 80 per cent of their staff to work from home to help reduce the spread of coronavirus, Reuters reports.

Effective on Thursday for an initial two weeks, the step allows exceptions in some vital sectors, state news agency QNA reported. These include the military and security, the ministry of foreign affairs and diplomatic missions, healthcare, oil and gas, plus some government employees and workers on national flagship projects.

The working day will be cut to six hours, from 7am to 1pm, excluding grocery stores, pharmacies and restaurants. Household cleaning services will be suspended, QNA reported, and the number of workers transported by bus halved.