Since the beginning of the year 2020, the world has faced a public health issue on a global scale. The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. It first broke out in the Chinese province of Hubei in December 2019 and within a few months has spread worldwide triggering a global health alarm and changing the daily lives of millions of people across the globe. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the first country in the Middle East to report a coronavirus case at the end of January, followed by a steady increase in the number of positive cases. As of April 26, 2020, the UAE had 10,349 total confirmed cases (COVID-19 Update, 2020). The pandemic is a dynamic and fast-moving global health crisis, which poses an ongoing challenge to national security and stability.
Counter-Measures against the Threat: UAE’s Policies/Laws
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the UAE has come up with legislation to counter this threat. Specifically, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation developed policies that employers are required to promote remote working as a protective measure. Resolution No. 281 of 2020 restricts the percentage of employees that should be physically present in a workplace to 30% (Karasik, 2020). However, firms involved in the provision of food and health are exempt from this government policy. Additionally, customers served at any business should occupy only 30% of the seats in the establishment (Karasik, 2020). They must also adhere to safety measures, including hand hygiene and adorning masks.
Under the new law, employees must adopt protective measures, such as screening staff coming on a shift for fever and other symptoms. Companies are required to implement these measures twice daily and refer suspected cases to hospitals (Khoja et al., 2020). Employers must consider pregnant women, individuals aged above 55 years, the disabled, those with respiratory problems, and mothers with young children for remote working. They must equip these employees with technical tools and support to enable them to work from home.
Counter-Measures against the Threat: UAE’s Defense Industry
The UAE defense industry is at the forefront of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. The country has adopted a civil-military approach in the anti-viral strategies. Before the start of Ramadan, the military-medical defense program focused on disinfecting mosques and other religious places in Dubai (Khoja et al., 2020). The joint initiative has been useful in implementing social separation programs during this period. It has also played a key role in enforcement and civil control. The military-supported mosques are used to sensitize people on this disease to avoid rumors that may lead to panic buying.
The UAE has developed a Civil Defense plan to reinforce counter-measures against the spread of the pandemic. This program seeks to eliminate this virus in all the seven Emirates before Eid al-Fitr celebrations later this month (Sebugwaawo, 2020). Before then, a massive decontamination exercise has been undertaken across the kingdom. The 24-hour restriction of movement has facilitated this initiative. In Abu Dhabi, the military in collaboration with Tadweer, a waste management firm, has endeavored to eliminate the virus through chemical spraying of public spaces and buildings (Karasik, 2020). UAE’s neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, have adopted the same military-medical model to decontaminate places and enforce lockdowns within their boundaries. Another area where UAE’s defense industry has played a role is in port security and control of the border with Iran (Sebugwaawo, 2020). The goal is to stop the contagion from entering the country from countries with a large number of cases and weaker health systems.
Counter-Measures against the Threat: UAE’s Regional or International Initiatives
The UAE has collaborated with regional and international partners to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. Its neighbors in the region, including Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain have adopted a military-medical approach modeled after UAE’s Civil Defense model (Khoja et al., 2020). Specifically, lockdown protocols and decontamination measures in these countries have been adapted from those of the UAE. The eastern Emirate jurisdiction of Qatif has collaborated with Iranian authorities in border control to prevent infected persons from entering the UAE through illegal routes (Sebugwaawo, 2020). Port security has also involved coordination with officials from neighboring countries.
Moreover, the UAE has offered to give medical assistance to different countries. Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince has been in touch with the governments of Italy, Serbia, and Iraq on how the kingdom can boost the efforts of these nations in fighting the pandemic (Sebugwaawo, 2020). This soft power approach centers on preventive measures. The country has committed to providing medicines and personal protective gear to nations with weak health care systems.
Recommendations
UAE’s countermeasures so far against the Covid-19 pandemic can be improved in many ways. Four recommendations for improvement are outlined below.
- Investing in vaccine development and search for a cure – while preventive measures are required to contain the pandemic and prevent it from spreading, finding a drug to treat this disease will ensure that the country returns to normalcy.
- Enforcing social distancing in supermarkets and other high-risk public places.
- Cessation of movement and dusk-to-dawn curfews will ensure that economic activity occurs during the day and prevent transmissions during evening social events.
- Mass testing will be important in identifying and isolating infected individuals to contain the spread of the disease.
References
- COVID-19 Update — United Arab Emirates. (2020). Akin Gump. Web.
- Karasik, T. (2020). Lessons the US can learn from the UAE about the decontamination of COVID-19.
- Khoja, S., Ford, R., Higham, E., & Thomas, S. (2020). COVID-19 Middle East: Employment update on new government initiatives. Web.
- Sebugwaawo, I. (2020). Covid-19 countermeasures: What the UAE is doing to combat the illness. Web.