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In the wake of rising Covid-19 cases in the United Arab Emirates to the highest levels in the last six months, Abu Dhabi has announced that it has tightened requirements to enter the sheikhdom. The Abu Dhabi Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Committee has notified that vaccinated individuals will require a green status on their mobile-phone health app, while those who aren’t inoculated will need a negative PCR test to enter the emirate from December 30.
It further notified that in addition to using EDE scanners to rapidly detect potential Covid-19 cases, the new entry requirements are in line with efforts to continue enhancing precautionary measures to protect public health.
To enter the emirate from within the UAE, vaccinated people will now show green status on Alhosn App and unvaccinated categories are required to present a negative PCR test result received within 96 hours, it added
Additionally, earlier this week on Monday, Abu Dhabi tightened rules for hosting indoor and outdoor social events as well as family celebrations.
While the UAE had managed to avoid restrictions unlike most major cities around the world, the Gulf nation, of which Abu Dhabi and Dubai are part, is now administering booster doses to its population of 10 million, and has so far covered just over 30%.
Daily coronavirus cases in the country jumped to 1,803 infections and two deaths on Sunday. That is a steep increase from the start of December when daily cases had fallen below 50.
Before the new omicron variant emerged, the UAE had managed to keep cases under control for most of this year. De facto ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan declared the crisis over in October as infections fell below 100 a day for the first time since the pandemic began.
Meanwhile, the multibillion-dollar world's fair in Dubai has warned that some venues on site may shut down as coronavirus cases rapidly rise in the United Arab Emirates.
Dubai's Expo 2020 said that virus outbreaks among staff may force some parts of the fair to “close temporarily for deep cleaning and sanitisation," without elaborating on the scope or the location of the infections.
The UAE's daily virus caseload has skyrocketed by a multiple of 37 in just the last three weeks after the arrival of the omicron variant.
The vague statement from Dubai's government-run media office on Monday underscores the daunting challenges of hosting among the world's first major in-person events amid a still-raging pandemic. The fair opened in October after a year's delay as the UAE bet that its rapid vaccine rollout would allow its economy to avoid the closures that have paralyzed much of the West.
Expo tries to enforce various virus precautions, with face masks mandatory on the fairgrounds and a vaccination certificate or recent negative virus test needed for entry. But the highly transmissible omicron variant, which is thought to evade immunity from vaccination, poses a new test.
There have been no visible social distancing requirements at Expo's massive concerts in recent weeks where revellers have rammed up against each other, waving their hands to the music.
With Dubai's peak winter tourism season in full swing, the world's fair has vaulted into the spotlight. Millions of tourists from around the world are flocking to the sprawling site packed with scores of national pavilions, restaurants, shops and performance stages. Christmas parades drew crowds last week and Expo is now gearing up for big concerts to attract party-goers on New Year's Eve.
New Year's Eve bashes last year in Dubai helped drive a drastic surge in virus cases in the Emirates as tourists escaped lockdowns at home. Infections now hover below those heights but are climbing fast. The daily infection toll exceeded 1,840 on Tuesday, the highest in six months.
The more conservative capital of Abu Dhabi on Tuesday ramped up virus checks on the highway from Dubai to make sure all vaccinated drivers also had tested negative within the last two weeks. The city capped house parties at 30 people and outdoor events at 150 this week.
Emirati authorities have reported few daily hospitalizations and deaths among the UAE's nearly 10 million people, of which over 90% are fully vaccinated.
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