After opening itself to New Year’s revelers, Dubai is now being blamed by several countries for spreading COVID-19 abroad, even as questions swirl about the city-state’s ability to handle reported record spikes in cases.
The Dubai Media Office said that the sheikhdom is doing all it can to handle the pandemic.
“After a year of managing the pandemic, we can confidently say the current situation is under control and we have our plans to surge any capacity in the healthcare system should a need rise,” the office said.
Photo: AP
However, former Dubai Department of Finance director-general Nasser al-Shaikh offered a different assessment on Twitter on Thursday, and asked authorities to take control of a spiraling caseload.
“The leadership bases its decisions on recommendations from the team, the wrong recommendations which put human souls in danger and negatively affect our society,” al-Shaikh wrote, adding that “our economy requires accountability.”
Dubai, known for its long-haul carrier Emirates, the world’s tallest building, and its beaches and bars, in July became one of the first travel destinations to describe itself as open for business.
The move staunched the bleeding of its crucial tourism and real-estate sectors after lockdowns and curfews cratered its economy.
As tourism restarted, daily reported COVID-19 case numbers slowly grew, but mostly remained stable through the fall.
However, then came New Year’s Eve — a major draw for travelers from countries otherwise shut down over the pandemic, who partied without masks in bars and on yachts.
For the past 17 days, the United Arab Emirates as a whole has reported record daily case numbers as lines at Dubai testing facilities grow.
In Israel, more than 900 travelers returning from Dubai have been infected, according to the military, which conducts contact tracing.
The returnees created a chain of infections numbering more than 4,000 people, the Israeli military told reporters.
In the UK, tabloids have splashed shots of bikini-clad British influencers partying in Dubai.
“International travel, right now, should not be happening unless it’s absolutely necessary,” British Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock told the BBC this week. “No parties in Paris or weekends in Dubai. That is not on and in most cases, it’s against the law.”
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