UAE will not go for complete lockdown, says minister
A view of Sheikh Zayed Road during a 2021 night curfew in Dubai. File
Gulf Today Report
The UAE trade minister said that the country would not go for a full lockdown despite a spike in Covid-19 cases.
Dr. Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said that the country would focus on its planned COVID testing and vaccination drive to curb the spread of the virus and make businesses and the economy run smoothly.
Over the past few weeks, the UAE saw a sharp rise in virus cases.
Thani Al-Zeyoudi told Bloomberg that “Omicron is way less impactful than Delta and even during Delta we haven’t locked down the country.”
Thani Al-Zeyoudi added, “The balance has been there throughout the Omicron for sure and with any future variants when it comes to coronavirus, we will not go back to the full lockdown of the country.”
He was talking about Dubai's economic rebound during the pandemic and leaders are optimistic about future business targets.
The country expects a 4.2% growth this year, helped by the rebound in oil.
European countries have tightened restrictions on viruses as infections rise and the omicron variant spreads.
But the UAE has minimised the disruption by hosting large conferences, concerts and events.
Before the emergence of the omicron strain, the UAE had managed to keep cases under control most of the time, but in recent weeks new virus cases have increased to more than 2,500 per day.
