Dubai updated its travel regulations to include more testing for travellers, after a recent rise in Covid-19 case numbers.
On Wednesday, the emirate's Supreme Committee for Crisis and Disaster Management said all passengers must undergo a PCR test before travelling to Dubai, regardless of where they are travelling from.
Previously, only six countries were exempt from the preflight PCR test requirement. These included passengers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. Instead, they received a PCR nasal swab on arrival at either of Dubai's two airports.
As of Sunday, January 31, citizens of Gulf countries, UAE residents and tourists must take a PCR test before travelling to Dubai. The result must be received 72 hours before the scheduled flight departure time, down from the previous 96 hours. Passengers must bring an official, printed certificate of the negative test result in English or Arabic to check-in. SMS and digital certificates are not accepted.
The measures will take effect from Sunday and apply to all international ports of entry to Dubai, the committee said.
Protocols will remain the same for UAE citizens returning to the country from overseas, which exempt them from needing a PCR test prior to departure, regardless of the country they are coming from. They will be required to take a PCR test only on arrival in Dubai.
Arrivals from certain countries – based on the status of the pandemic in those countries – require an additional test on arrival in Dubai.
The committee directed Dubai Airports to provide rapid PCR or rapid antigen testing to facilitate travel procedures for passengers travelling to countries that require those types of pre-travel screening.
People who have been in South Africa within 14 days of departure are not allowed to travel to Dubai. This includes transiting in other countries within 14 days before travelling to the emirate.
The announcement came as the UAE reported 3,939 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, raising the total number of infections to 289,086 since the pandemic began.
Recoveries far exceeded new infections with 4,536 people cleared of Covid-19. This brought total recoveries to 263,730. It was the eighth consecutive day that recoveries outstripped new cases, with a record recovery figure set.
Six people died of related complications, taking the death toll to 811.
Wednesday's cases were detected after another 174,016 tests were conducted across the country. The UAE has carried out more than 25 million PCR and DPI tests since the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Active cases stand at 24,545.
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Profile of Udrive
Date started: March 2016
Founder: Hasib Khan
Based: Dubai
Employees: 40
Amount raised (to date): $3.25m – $750,000 seed funding in 2017 and a Seed round of $2.5m last year. Raised $1.3m from Eureeca investors in January 2021 as part of a Series A round with a $5m target.
More on Quran memorisation:
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The specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 849Nm
Range: 456km
Price: from Dh437,900
On sale: now
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Match info
Liverpool 3
Hoedt (10' og), Matip (21'), Salah (45 3')
Southampton 0
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Company%20Profile
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
