Curbs in Dubai to fight Covid surge

It also suspended live entertainment permits for hotels and restaurants amid a surge in Covid cases, according to an official circular issued by Dubai Tourism.

Dubai: The United Arab Emirates has been witnessing a surge of novel coronavirus cases lately. The tourist dependent Dubai, an important emirate of UAE federation, has announced suspension of non-essential surgeries for one month but extended further.

It also suspended live entertainment permits for hotels and restaurants amid a surge in Covid cases, according to an official circular issued by Dubai Tourism.

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The Department observed, through field inspection, an increase in number violations during entertainment activities in hotels and restaurants. Accordingly, it has temporarily hold entertainment activities effective from Thursday till further notice.

Authorities have also issued more than 200 violations and shut down 20 businesses for “non-compliance with guidelines,” according to the Dubai Media Office.

The daily number of infections in the United Arab Emirates, which includes Dubai, crossed the 3,000 threshold on January 12 and has continued to climb, hitting 3,506 on Wednesday.

It is the highest in the Gulf Arab region where daily cases in other countries have fallen much lower than UAE.

The UAE has lifted most coronavirus restrictions but mask-wearing in public and social distancing are still required.

Visitors including a significant number of Indians flocked to Dubai, an international travel hub that is gearing up to host the Expo 2020 world fair in October, as other countries imposed new lockdowns.

With a negative PCR test in India and some other countries – and another upon arrival, tourists can freely enter Dubai, where winter temperatures average a pleasant 25 deg C.

“We are excited to arrive in UAE”, said Bhake Sanjaykumar, resident of LB Nagar in Hyderabad who arrived on Thursday from Hyderabad along with his family.

The neighbouring emirate of Abu Dhabi, which with large oil reserves is less dependent on tourism, has taken a much more conservative approach, generally requiring quarantine on arrival.

UAE has ramped up its immunisation campaign with the aim of vaccinating more than 50 percent of its roughly 9 million population, a majority of whom are Indian expatriates, before the end of March.

The emirate of Dubai plans to vaccinate seven out of 10 of its total population by the end of this year.

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