The UAE jumped to the eighth ranking globally and maintained its prime position in the Arab region in the Bloomberg index of the most resilient countries that effectively managed the COVID-19 pandemic.
When compared to the previous ranking the UAE has advanced its position surpassing major countries, including China, Finland, Denmark, Canada and Switzerland. The emirates have scored 69.7 points in the COVID-19 Resilience Ranking, which uses a wide range of data to capture where the pandemic is being handled most effectively, with the least social and economic disruption from mortality and testing rates to vaccine access and freedom of movement.
During the UAE Government’s media briefing on the coronavirus crisis, Dr. Saif Al Dhaheri, Official Spokesperson of the National Crisis and Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA), highlighted that the country has attained the advanced rankings due to the precautionary measures it adopted at the start of the pandemic and its ability to ensure continuity of business.
The healthcare sector of the country was further strengthened by the success of the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign which administered 10 million vaccine doses at a distribution rate of 104.51 doses for every 100 persons and conducted over 43 million coronavirus tests.
Dr. Al Dhaheri stressed the fact that one of the UAE’s achievements in the battle against the pandemic was making the vaccine available to everyone free of cost at all the centers in the country.
“Since the beginning of the crisis the UAE community, both citizens and residents, have cooperated with the national efforts to fight this pandemic by adhering to precautionary measures,” Dr. Al Dhaheri noted.
All the internationally approved vaccines are available free of charge including Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sputnik V, and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, for citizens and residents, provided they do not have any medical conditions that prevent them from taking it.
Dr. Al Dhaheri said that the performance of the Tahajud (night prayers) in the last 10 days of the Holy Month of Ramadan will take place according to the precautionary measures. He pointed out that the UAE Fatwa Council motivates people, notably elderly people, and those with chronic diseases, and women, from among citizens and residents, to perform these prayers at home.
The final of the UAE President’s Cup 2021, which will be held on May 16, will let fans watch it live in the stadium but with only a maximum of 30 percent of the respective stadium capacity. It will be the first official event to be attended only by those vaccinated during the COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials provided that they present a negative PCR test result and show the status of a gold star or ‘E’ on the ALHOSN UAE app, the official COVID-19 testing channel for health authorities, to be permitted to enter.
