Hong Kong began a mass coronavirus testing programme on Tuesday, while the number of infections in the United States surpassed six million.
The voluntary initiative in the southern Chinese city offers free tests to millions of Hong Kongers as authorities worldwide continue efforts to stamp out the virus, which has now killed about 850,000 and infected more than 25 million.
But populations around the world are increasingly wary of coronavirus curbs and distrust is growing in governments’ handling of the pandemic, with protesters taking to the streets in major cities in recent days.
German demonstrators against mask rules and other restrictions tried to storm parliament in the biggest of several European protests at the weekend.
Suspicions about the state’s intentions have done much to undermine the testing programme in Hong Kong, where disillusionment with officials has been fuelled by China’s crushing of the city’s democracy movement.
The project to stamp out a third wave of infections in the densely populated finance hub began in late June, when the city reimposed economically painful social distancing measures.
But the programme has been hampered by a limited response due to the involvement of mainland Chinese testing labs and doctors – and swirling public fears of the harvesting of data and DNA.
Since registration began on Saturday, 510,000 people have signed up to take the tests. Health experts advising the government, however, said as many as five million people might need to be tested for the measure to end the current wave.
“I think it’s a waste of time,” local resident Emily Li told AFP. “The government can’t convince me in terms of the effectiveness of the testing programme.”
The World Health Organisation on Monday urged governments to engage with people demonstrating against Covid-19 curbs and listen to their concerns, but stressed protesters needed to understand the virus was dangerous.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was important to “listen to what people are asking, what people are saying”.
“We should engage in an honest dialogue”, but demonstrators have a responsibility to ensure protests are safe, he said.
“The virus is real. It is dangerous. It moves fast and it kills. We have to do everything to protect ourselves and to protect others.”
Mr Tedros took issue with the opinion that high death rates are not a major concern if fatalities are mainly among the elderly.
“Accepting someone to die because of age is moral bankruptcy at its highest, and we shouldn’t allow our society to behave this way,” he said.
A million new coronavirus infections have been detected worldwide roughly every four days since mid-July.
In the US, which accounts for a quarter of the global caseload, a million infections have been recorded in three weeks.
India on Sunday set the record for the highest single-day rise in cases, with 78,761.
But there have been attempts to return to normality even as the virus continues to circulate, with French pupils back in classrooms on Tuesday as schools across Europe reopen their doors.
Pupils in Belgium return the same day, while in Greece classes are set to resume next Monday with a maximum of 25 children in each.
Youngsters in Germany went back last month and in England and Wales children are studying together again this week after a six-month closure.
But strict anti-virus rules are in place at many learning institutions as communities go to great lengths to avoid any return to painful lockdowns.
“The confinement period was hellish,” said Florence, 42, a mother-of-three in the southern French city of Nice.
“We will not go through it again – it’s out of the question.”
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THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
PROFILE OF INVYGO
Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
Based: Dubai
Sector: Transport
Size: 9 employees
Investment: $1,275,000
Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
