Covid-19 has claimed 3.2 million lives globally, although a report last week said that the loss could be double that figure.
Given such a grim scenario, countries are likely to have travel restrictions in place for the foreseeable future. But for how long those stay in place will depend also on how soon the world is vaccinated. Until then, disruptions in travel schedules could be routine. There is a heavy toll on affected people around the world.
The UK's announcement of its traffic travel light system will, for instance, affect the sizeable number of British overseas citizens who live and work overseas. Britons living in the UAE, and residents of the UAE with significant ties to the UK are among those affected.
Families have not seen each other in months. Children have not hugged their grandparents. There is no doubt that lockdowns have been universally tough. And it is only human to feel dejected at restrictive travel policies. But given that the UAE has the second-fastest vaccination rate – more than 11 million Covid-19 vaccine doses administered – the impediments to visit the UK, as Mansoor Abulhoul, the ambassador of the UAE to the UK, said, "are disappointing".
For countries at large to emerge from such impositions is not going to be easy. The virus is still mutating, still causing untold misery. India is breaking records of infection cases – in one day, 4,187 people have died. As epidemiologists and authorities have repeatedly said, no one is safe till everyone is. We are seeing the propensity of the virus to mutate and reach every corner of the world. The Indian strain, "a variant of concern", has now reached the UK.
The long-term solution to ending the pandemic, as has been said before in these pages, is a strong and persistent push for universal vaccination, in every country, rich or poor. The way to gradually ease out of these extended periods of disruption and uncertainty is to manufacture more vaccines. The world needs multiple times more than what is right now available. It cannot be the case that only the privileged in the richest countries get the jab. The cost of allowing developing nations to lag behind is unacceptable.
To this end, expanding access to vaccines, the World Health Organisation approved Sinopharm for emergency use, making it the sixth vaccine to receive WHO validation – the first non-western one to get the green light. This is a big boost for inoculation efforts across the world. Such timely permissions are especially needed to combat the spread of the mutating virus.
To curb death tolls of second and third waves of Covid-19, vaccines need to be not just available, but also abundantly so, in order to minimise the gap between demand and supply.
Easier to store, the Sinopharm vaccine is set to be added to the Covax programme – through which vaccines reach poorer countries. This is a step in the right direction.
Mass global inoculations will make travel easier. They could enable the proliferation of workarounds such as vaccine passports and safe air corridors.
Constant Covid-19 vigilance, however, will still be key for a long time to come. Even in a country with a successful vaccine roll-out such as the UK, where the economy is now opening up, travel policies have had to be closely monitored to make sure the virus spread is contained and lives spared.
When contrasted with countries elsewhere in the world, where healthcare systems are under insurmountable pressures, inequalities between the advanced and developing worlds show up starkly. Discrepancies in health care of countries with differing growth rates are not new. But it is ill-considered from a global policymaking standpoint if in one part of the world a preventable shortage of oxygen is stealing lives even as a few countries are able to get the virus under control.
It does not bode well for the world's collective recovery when countries recover at drastically unequal paces, some going into partial lockdowns, others doing well enough to be able to welcome visitors. We should all be able to get there.
Until the whole world is vaccinated and it is safe to travel, the pandemic will not truly be over. Only once everyone is safe is anyone really safe.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The winners
Fiction
- ‘Amreekiya’ by Lena Mahmoud
- ‘As Good As True’ by Cheryl Reid
The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award
- ‘Syrian and Lebanese Patricios in Sao Paulo’ by Oswaldo Truzzi; translated by Ramon J Stern
- ‘The Sound of Listening’ by Philip Metres
The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
- ‘Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance’ by Fady Joudah
Children/Young Adult
- ‘I’ve Loved You Since Forever’ by Hoda Kotb
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New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Third Test
Day 3, stumps
India 443-7 (d) & 54-5 (27 ov)
Australia 151
India lead by 346 runs with 5 wickets remaining
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
MWTC
Tickets start from Dh100 for adults and are now on sale at www.ticketmaster.ae and Virgin Megastores across the UAE. Three-day and travel packages are also available at 20 per cent discount.
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