Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, May 6, 2020. the new Ambulatory Healthcare Services, a SEHA Health System Facility, National Screening Project in Mussafah Industrial Area in Abu Dhabi. -- A testing center staffer gives the thumbs up sign. Victor Besa / The National Section: NA Reporter: Nick Webster
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, May 6, 2020. the new Ambulatory Healthcare Services, a SEHA Health System Facility, National Screening Project in Mussafah Industrial Area in Abu Dhabi. -- A testing center staffer gives the thumbs up sign. Victor Besa / The National Section: NA Reporter: Nick Webster
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, May 6, 2020. the new Ambulatory Healthcare Services, a SEHA Health System Facility, National Screening Project in Mussafah Industrial Area in Abu Dhabi. -- A testing center staffer gives the thumbs up sign. Victor Besa / The National Section: NA Reporter: Nick Webster
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, May 6, 2020. the new Ambulatory Healthcare Services, a SEHA Health System Facility, National Screening Project in Mussafah Industrial Area in Abu Dhabi. -- A testing c

Why an increase in coronavirus cases shouldn't cause alarm


  • English
  • Arabic

With regard to the report Coronavirus: UAE records 781 new cases and 13 deaths (May 10): proportion of recoveries is increasing to the number of new cases. So this is going in the right direction.

Cheryl Murray, Abu Dhabi 

As a healthcare worker with some common sense, I can say, stay home. Stop mingling in the malls. Keep the kids at home. These steps will go a long way to prevent the spread. This is not going to magically disappear in a puff of sanitiser. It's going to get worse before it starts getting better.

Anne Poulton Van Binsbergen-Hope, Cape Town, Western Cape

When I search for the total number of tests, it puts me at ease. I read the authorities are currently testing 300,000 labour workers in a specific area in Abu Dhabi in a matter of days, so this is positive to find the cases. There is bound to be a rise as they test more people, isolate and treat. The government is doing a great job in testing. The recoveries are increasing, too. I also read the total number of tests as of 25 April hit over one million. And each day since they have carried out many more tests. This is amazing.

Helen Ranson, Abu Dhabi 

Safety checks notwithstanding, the dilemma of airlines

With reference to your editorial 'Air travel must be informed by ground reality' (May 11): with Covid-19 cases still rising all over the world, it is not plausible to lift air travel restrictions, even with proper safety measures in place. However, airlines cannot remain inactive for so long. Neither can they afford to fly if they were to respect social distancing norms. It is important that passengers continue to be tested for Covid-19 before boarding and face masks be made mandatory during flights. We may not like it but airlines will have no choice but to increase the price of tickets on account of the expense of taking precautions against Covid-19. Health and safety remains critical during this time. 

Ramachandran Nair, Muscat, Oman

Parents' negotiating the task of monitoring kids learning at home

Regarding the article by Patrick Ryan and Anam Rizvi Coronavirus: How would UAE parents and employers manage e-learning until 2021? (May 10): it will be good to take into consideration the younger kids, for whom e-learning is impossible without the involvement of parents, who will need to balance office work. So who will follow up on the kids for e-learning?

Nathalie Ravier, Dubai 

There are no easy solutions for this. There are pros and cons for all scenarios and the government, rightly so, is preparing for all scenarios. It is the right thing to do. September is still months away. Let's all do the best we can today for a safer tomorrow. Stay positive.

Nisha Subramanian, Dubai 

Follow The National's Opinion section on Twitter

Result

UAE (S. Tagliabue 90 1') 1-2 Uzbekistan (Shokhruz Norkhonov 48', 86')

Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt

Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure

Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers

Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised

Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels

Combating coronavirus
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Rating: 2/5
 

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: N2 Technology

Founded: 2018

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Startups

Size: 14

Funding: $1.7m from HNIs

Pharaoh's curse

British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Essentials

The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.