Most COVID-19 Vaccines Donated to African Countries Are Not Authorised Under EU Travel Passport

Africa Centres for Disease and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the African Union (AU) have expressed their concern after it has been revealed that the EU Digital COVID Passport does not recognise the vaccine doses that were donated to numerous African countries through the COVAX initiative.

The EU COVID pass only recognises the AstraZeneca doses, also branded as Vaxzevria produced by European Medicines Agency (EMA) manufacturers in Europe, China, South Korea, and the US among the doses donated in Africa, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

In contrast, the vaccine doses made by the largest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India, also known as Covishield, which has been categorised as the backbone of the contribution from the COVAX initiative to countries with low and medium-income will not be recognised.

Nonetheless, Estonia, Spain, Iceland, Slovenia, and Greece are the EU countries that have confirmed that they recognise Covishield vaccine certificates despite the Commission’s decision not to. Several other countries, Austria, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland, reportedly also accept this vaccine, but no official announcement has been made by the authorities of these countries.

“In the EU, the vaccine called Covishield does not currently have a marketing authorisation. Even though it may use an analogous production technology to Vaxzevria, Covishield as such is not currently approved under EU rules. This is because vaccines are biological products,” EMA stated.

Regarding the matter, EMA stated that the agency is not to be held accountable for any of the decisions related to COVID-19 vaccination status and the travelling restrictions for those wishing to travel to the EU.

In addition, the agency noted that since the smallest differences in the manufacturing conditions can make discrepancies in the final product, the EU law demands the manufacturing and the process of production to be evaluated and approved before any decision is made.

The European Union emphasised once again that the COVID passport is not a precondition for travel into the block and that the Member States can permit entry to persons who have been immunised with vaccines that have completed the WHO Emergency Use Listing process.

Since the two vaccine doses of the Indian-produced AstraZeneca vaccine do not allow travellers to enter the EU, a large number of the world’s population is excluded from the current travel policy of the block.

As such, Africa CDC and AU have encouraged the EU Commission to try and increase mandatory access to the COVID pass for vaccines that are suitable from global rollout utilising the COVAX facility supported by the EU.

“The current applicability guidelines put at risk the equitable treatment of persons having received their vaccines in countries profiting from the EU-supported COVAX Facility, including the majority of the African Union (AU) the Member States,” the joint statement of AU and Africa CDC reads.

Source: Schengenvisainfo news

Kenya eye growing intra-Africa tourism pie, hosts tour operators

Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) has intensified efforts to market Kenya to the rest of Africa by targeting key source markets in the region.

Speaking aboard the Tamarind Dhow in Mombasa County, KTB Corporate Affairs Manager Wausi Walya, who represented Chief Executive Betty Radier, said the move would increase tourist arrivals at a time when global tourism is reeling from the effects of Covid-19.

“There is immense potential in both regional and the African market we are trying to capture. One of them is to play host to familiarisation trips like this one and entice the travel trade to sample what Magical Kenya destination has to offer,” she said.

Walya was speaking at a special cocktail for 15 travel and tour operators from Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia, who have been on a week-long product sampling of Kenya’s popular tourist destinations.

Positive growth

The visitors have been to Nairobi, Nanyuki, the Maasai Mara, Tsavo, Diani, Malindi and Watamu on a mission to see the various tourist attractions. Before Covid-19, tourism on the continent was on a positive growth trajectory.

Travel experts say tourism numbers on the continent have grown at a rate of 8.6 per cent over the past years compared to a global average of seven per cent.

Tourism in Africa is rated as the fastest-growing market in the world. Walya also stressed the need to actualise increased growth and collaboration between Africa’s tourism destinations to tap into the potential that exists in the continent.

She noted that promoting intra-Africa tourism could at the same time catalyse the generation of opportunities within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Kenya Airways General Manager for Kenya and North Africa Rose Kiseli promised to support the sector through flexible bookings and ticket prices. “We are seeing increased uptake in passengers now taking to flying with June this year being the best. People are getting confident to travel. Airlifts now average 60-65 per cent,” she said. The agents lauded the country’s tourism with Travelneza Uganda boss Laura Kagame singling out the unique hotel settings.

Alpine Travels from Rwanda Marketing Manager Niyonzima Fred lauded the Nairobi-Mombasa Madaraka Express Passenger train service saying it enables tourists to see the scenic Tsavo wildlife.

Ethiopia’s Danex Tours and Travels Managing Director Daniel Melaku said the tourists were keen to visit the beach market that is popular with Ethiopian tourists.

Source: The Standard

KATA Travel Agents Prepare Ahead for NewGen ISS

Last week, the Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) held a virtual forum to sensitize Kenya’s travel agents on IATA’s New Generation Settlement Systems (NewGen ISS) scheduled to be implemented in the Kenyan Market in September 2021. This new implementation date comes after IATA had postponed its initial implementation date of October 16th 2019.

According to IATA, the NewGen ISS represents the most extensive and ambitious modernization of the IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) that travel agents have been using to facilitate the global distribution and settlement of funds between travel agents and airlines for the past five decades.

The webinar which was opened by Madam Shazmin Manji, Vice-Chairperson Kenya Association of Travel Agents was geared towards preparing and educating the Kenyan travel trade players on the NewGen ISS accreditation models, IATA’s approach towards an enhanced risk management framework for the industry with the introduction of the Remittance Holding Capacity (RHC), and a new form of payment dubbed the IATA EasyPay based on the pay-as-you-go model.

The NewGen ISS comes with three levels of travel agent accreditation, allowing travel agents to choose the model most applicable to their business while giving them an opportunity to switch between models as their business evolves.

“NewGen ISS’ Risk Management Framework will offer a more secure environment for all participants through; fitting risk management to agents’ choice of accreditation and participation terms, introduction of a Remittance Holding Capacity (RHC), to enable safer selling and mitigate losses resulting from travel agency defaults,” said Manal Al-Taher, IATA’s Regional Manager for Transformation and Products-AME.

The system packs an alternative payments solution for travel agents, the IATA EasyPay, which will be a voluntary pay-as-you-go e-wallet solution for issuance of airline tickets in the BSP. The IATA EasyPay solution will allow travel agents to lower their financial security amounts held with IATA, and to issue transactions which are not included in their BSP remittance capacity.

The NewGen ISS will also feature the Global Default Insurance that will offer optional financial security alternative for travel agents serving as an alternative to bank guarantees.

“This initiative will bring positive changes to the current Billing Settlement Plan (BSP) that continues to serve the industry’s financial settlement requirements. It will bring greater options and flexibility to travel agents and provide greater financial security to airlines,” said Al-Taher.

RHC Calculation Model

The Remittance Holding Capacity (RHC) introduces a monetary threshold for agent’s BSP Cash sales. Agents will be notified by email when they reach 50%, 75% and 100% of the determined RHC, and will be able to monitor their RHC usage directly through the IATA Customer Portal.

The RHC for travel agents will be calculated based on the average of the three highest reporting periods of the previous 12 months plus 100%. However, in the current Covid-19 situation, IATA clarified that the calculations will be based on the 2019 sales, owing to the fact that 2020/21 sales were severally impacted by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

While commenting on the calculation model for the Remittance Holding Capacity based on the 2019 sales, KATA CEO Agnes Mucuha said, “2019 sales levels will favour our travel agents, giving them a higher RHC thus allowing them to sell more.”

While addressing any fears that travel agents expressed over IATA limiting their selling capacity, Dania Al-Abbadi, IATA’s Senior Manager in charge of Agency Risk Management said that RHC will not restrict or limit travel agent sales. She reiterated that the measure is purely a prudential safeguard to protect airline revenues and not restricting sales.

“Travel agents will still have the capacity to continue selling via IATA EasyPay or by increasing their financial security which will in turn increase their RHC threshold,” said Al-Abbadi.

Dr Joseph Kithitu, KATA Finance Director urged members to familiarise themselves with the new rules as soon as possible, to understand the potential impact on their business. He advised members to lay more emphasis on understanding how these two areas will impact them; the Risk Status and Remittance Holding Capacity (RHC).

He encouraged members not to fear the new system, and to embrace the new technology tools that the industry is inventing as they are intended to create more efficiency.

Travelport and Emirates reach agreements on un-surcharged content, NDC distribution and IT service extension

Worldwide leader in travel retail, Travelport, and one of the world’s largest international airlines, Emirates, last week announced they have reached a commercial agreement that will allow Travelport-connected travel agencies to avoid the airline’s surcharge on bookings via Global Distribution Systems (GDS) that will be introduced from 01 July 2021. Furthermore, the companies announced a new long-term agreement to enable the distribution of Emirates NDC content via Travelport’s next-generation platform, Travelport+, and an extension to its longstanding IT agreement.

Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer at Emirates said: “We are pleased to have reached key agreements with Travelport that take our decades-long partnership to the next level. Supported by the recent launch of Travelport+, these new deals will further cement Emirates as the airline of choice for travellers that want highly personalized offers and access to the world’s best destinations. Emirates and Travelport will continue to work jointly on future travel retail solutions that will offer our travel community partners even better and more bespoke services.”

As of 01 July 2021, Travelport’s global network of travel agency partners will automatically be upgraded to a dedicated channel that provides access to un-surcharged content. These agencies will also continue to benefit from a graphically rich experience when searching for and booking Emirates branded fares, as well as greater access to its ancillary offers, thanks to a long-term extension of the airline’s existing agreement to use Travelport’s Rich Content and Branding merchandising tool.

As part of the deal, Travelport-connected agencies will be able to gain simplified access to Emirates’ NDC content and services via Travelport Smartpoint and the company’s enhanced RESTful / JSON APIs once the agencies sign new NDC specific agreements with both companies. Travelport and Emirates continue to progress the NDC technical solution for travel retailers worldwide and are now in the process of developing enhanced features and functionality that will, when complete, be gradually rolled out.

Travelport will also continue to provide Emirates with its industry-leading pricing, shopping and ticket rebooking technology as part of the agreement, to support the airline in the delivery of advanced shopping and rebooking options within its own internal sales channels, including its NDC channel and www.emirates.com.

Jason Clarke, Chief Commercial Officer, Travel Partners at Travelport, said: “This series of agreements highlights the determination of both Travelport and Emirates to re-invent travel retailing and push the boundaries of what’s possible. With a shared vision for the future, our long-standing collaboration will continue to go from strength-to-strength. Together, we look forward to giving the many travelers returning to the skies this summer and beyond the best possible offers and experiences.”

Source: Emirates

KATA, Kenya Airways Focused on Strengthening Agent – Airline Relationship

The Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) and Kenya Airways (KQ) on Tuesday 22nd June held an industry meeting to review strategies that will strengthen the airline’s ties with the Travel Trade actors in Kenya and to discuss various issues affecting the travel industry.

Speaking during the event, KATA Chairman Mohammed Wanyoike noted that travel agents play an integral role to aid the recovery of travel in Kenya, and particularly have become a key partner to the country’s national carrier.

He said that travel agencies have lend a hand to the industry during the most difficult time when travellers were exposed to many complexities in a number of areas that were necessitated by the stringent COVID-19 travel protocols.

While emphasizing on the importance of strengthening KQ-travel agents’ relations, Ms Agnes Mucuha, KATA’s Chief Executive noted that Travel Agents in Kenya account for more than 75% of passenger number bookings to KQ, a position that is critical to keeping KQ flights in the skies.

Her sentiments come at a time when travel agents are reporting surging domestic leisure travel and an uptick in ticket sales for international travel. Key markets in Europe and North America are opening up bringing with it a pent-up demand to travel among consumers.

Industry Challenges

Since the onset of Covid-19 pandemic, travel agents in Kenya have had to grapple with issues ranging from unsettled refunds from airlines, scrapping of commission and incentives by some carriers, price wars, restrictive fare rules, frequent flight re-scheduling and interruptions, unreliable customer service, restrictive ADMs and EMDs and disruptions in local flight schedules among others.

The KATA-KQ industry meeting was meant to address some of these challenges that the travel trade continues to endure while offering a way forward even as travel begins to resume.

Mr Wanyoike hailed KQ for their flexibility and honoring customer refunds following the high cancellation rates during the pandemic. The airline offered dedicated customer support to the industry, quickly addressing the many concerns raised by travel agents.

He assured the national carrier of an unequivocal support from the travel agents even as it steers its path back to profitability.

Strengthening the Airline-Agent Relationship

KQ Chief Commercial and Customer Officer (CCCO), Julius Thairu, assured travel agents of the airline’s continued support even as the two parties continue to enjoy a cordial relationship.

He noted that the Kenya air travel market remains one of the most competitive and lucrative on the African continent with just about every other major international carrier plying the Nairobi route.

Mr Thairu reiterated that for KQ to maintain its competitiveness and reclaim its market share in Africa, it will need a strengthened relationship with the travel trade community and other partners, and to come up with agile ways to defend its market share.

The airline aspires to become the preferred African Carrier and a sustainable business with a break-even position by 2024.

In April this year, Kenya Airways inked a codeshare agreement with national Congo Airways aimed at expanding their reach in the domestic, African and international routes. The national carrier has also expanded its codeshare partnership with Delta Airlines an agreement that takes the duo’s code-share network to a combined 39 cities across Africa, USA and Canada.

The airline, that has been in the process of repurposing some of its Dreamliners to preighters, has also been registered as a UN cargo service provider, a position that will accord them opportunities in UN vaccines and pharma distribution, humanitarian aid transport, UN personnel transportation and UN aircraft charter services.

The carrier is also looking to diversify its service offering according to its market segmentation. Tom Reeves, KQ’s Ag. Sales Director said that the airline is looking into areas of KQ Holidays for leisure travelers, “Koolfliers” targeted for the student market, and medical tourism flights. The airline will also be looking to implement an NDC solution for the market towards the end of this year.

Among the key tenets that Kenya Airways will be focusing on is to repurpose its capacity to support the travel trade who will enable them build brand equity, leverage technology towards existing customers while promoting value, de-risking the business, redefine their price strategy and rebooking policy, leveraging more partnerships and incentivizing future purchases and operationalizing new routes.

Improved Customer Experience

Kenya has a robust and mature travel market. Nairobi’s attractiveness is hinged on its centrality on the continent which allows for easy connectivity to other regional destinations, as well as the hosting of key multinational businesses and non-profit agencies such as the UN Agencies.

Kenya’s travel agents noted KQ’s improved customer service in the recent past. The KQ call center has become agile and queries are attended to within a very short turn-around time, with customer centric solutions being offered during these uncertain times. Travel Agents have been complimenting the customer experience for KQ by providing the most recent and up to date advisory to travelers seeking to visit various destinations on their network under the current Covid19 travel protocols and regulations that have been changing without any notice or warning. This teamwork and coordinated approach in serving the travelers is impacting KQ’s customer experience positively.

World Bank, African Union Partner to Buy, Distribute 400 Million COVID-19 Shots

The World Bank announced a partnership with the African Union Tuesday to finance the acquisition and distribution of COVID-19 vaccine for 400 million people in Africa.

In a remote news conference via Zoom, World Bank Managing Operations Director Axel van Trotsenburg said the World Bank is providing $12 billion to not only acquire but deploy 400 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine — a single dose shot — in support of the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) initiative.

The announcement comes a day after African finance ministers and the World Bank Group met to fast-track vaccine acquisition on the continent and avoid a third wave of COVID-19.

Van Trotsenburg said the bank is making the financing available in an effort to address the imbalance in vaccine access between the world’s wealthy and not-so-wealthy nations.  

He said, “Less than one percent of the African population has been vaccinated. Africa has been marginalized in this global effort to get a vaccine. We have to correct this unfairness; and given that this is a global pandemic, we need global solutions and global solidarity.”  

The project will be a big step toward helping the African Union meet its goal to vaccinate 60% of the continent’s population by 2022.   

Van Trotsenburg said the regional effort complements the work of the World Health Organization-managed COVAX vaccine cooperative and comes at a time of rising COVID-19 cases in the region.

The World Bank has already approved operations to support vaccine roll outs in 36 countries. By the end of June, the World Bank expects to be supporting vaccination efforts in 50 countries, two thirds of which are in Africa.

Source: VOA

Third wave: Can SA travel industry expect harsher Covid-19 restrictions?

The tourism industry waits with bated breath to see whether South Africa will implement harsher lockdown restrictions in the coming days. With the surge in Covid-19 cases, some are predicting the worst.

If President Cyril Ramaphosa does implement restrictions, questions like, what impact would it have on the SA travel industry? Would the country be placed back into level 5? Would inter-provincial travel be permitted? Would he permit intra-provincial travel? Or no travel at all?

Only time will tell, and the decision for stricter lockdown will depend on the infection rate.

Last year’s heavy lockdown saw many travel businesses close down or battle to stay afloat. The travel industry believes that harsher third wave restrictions could signal the death knell for recovery efforts.

And, with my countries restricting travel to South Africa, the industry may not survive if domestic travel is limited or restricted altogether.

Rosemary Anderson, FEDHASA National Chairperson, said responsible trade within the tourism and hospitality sectors and people abiding by health and safety protocols remain key to the sector’s survival.

“The statistics released this week by Statistics South Africa, with focus on the accommodation and the food & beverage for the month of April 2021, have shown income from accommodation decreased by 32,2% in the three months ended April 2021 compared with the three months ended April 2020. The negative contributors to this decrease were hotels (-40,4% and contributing -27,3 percentage points); and ‘other’ accommodation (-18,6% and contributing -5,2 percentage points).

“These statistics indicate how financially damaged the sector was, and it does not bode well for the survival of the hospitality and tourism industry if there are further and harsher restrictions imposed,” she said.

According to her, the industry’s survival depends on the swift vaccination rollout.

“The efforts taken to secure vaccines and speed-up the vaccination programme is a welcome development. However, mass vaccination of South African residents is the only solution in the industry’s fight against Covid-19. We still believe it to be the way forward,” she said.

“Although we are in the grip of the third wave, there is no sector as cognisant of the direct relationship between adherence to protocols and the recovery of the sector than the hospitality and tourism industry, “she added.

In the meantime, travel expert Jennifer Morris said that travellers should avoid hotspot areas entirely if they could.

“If you want to proceed with your holiday, book accommodation away from crowds, like self-catering, game lodges or boutique hotels. These kinds of establishments allow for ample social distancing and greater peace of mind.

“Also ensure that your establishment and activity operators are Covid-19 compliant. They need to share its Covid compliance on the website and throughout the property,” she told IOL Travel this week.

Source: IOL

Uganda among countries added on UK travel ban red list

Uganda has been placed on the United Kingdom’s travel ban red list.

This is due to a significant rise in COVID-19 cases in the country that led to the announcement of more restriction measures by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

The ban goes into effect on Wednesday but Britain announced that residents and returning nationals would be allowed into the country from when the ban becomes effective.

“Only British nationals, Irish nationals and third-country nationals with residence rights in the UK who have departed from or transited Uganda within 10 days prior to their arrival in the UK will be required to quarantine for 10 days in a government-approved facility,” the statement reads in part.

“All measures announced are designed to give travelers and the travel sector more certainty, will be kept under review, and further action may be taken to protect public health.”

Eritrea, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Mongolia and Tunisia are the other countries newly added to the UK’s red list.

Uganda is now battling its second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The country has seen positive cases and deaths rise since late May.

However, Uganda’s international borders, including the main airport, remain open to travelers who prove they have taken a PCR test with a negative result. This does not include travelers arriving from India.

Kenya Airways To Resume London Flights On Saturday

Nairobi-based Kenya Airways has said that it will resume flights from Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO) to London Heathrow (LHR) starting Saturday, June 26, 2021. All flights between Kenya and the United Kingdom ceased on April 9, 2021, after the UK government added Kenya to its “red list” of countries.

Based on the COVID-19 infection rate, counties are listed as either green (no restrictions), amber (some restrictions), or red (mandatory ten-day quarantine). People returning to the UK from red countries must quarantine in a government-approved hotel for a minimum of ten days at their own expense. The price for the hotel stay is £1,750 ($2,417), per adult and while there, they must take two COVID-19 PCR tests that prove negative.

The Kenyan government retaliated

Following the news that Kenya was being added to the UK red list, the Kenyan government retaliated by banning flights to the East African nation from the UK. By doing this, the Kenyan government effectively put another nail in Kenya Airways’ coffin on the back of a yearly $330 million loss. 

In early June, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) extended the ban for a second time to August 24, 2021. Now fearing that its essential summer tourism season would be affected, the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday that flights between Kenya and the UK had the go-ahead to resume.

The high season for tourists visiting Kenya comes during the dry period between July and September. It is when the world-renowned migration of wildebeest and zebra through Maasai Mara Game Reserve takes place.

Kenya needs tourism

Kenyan business news website Business Daily quotes a letter from the Ministry to the British High Commission which says:

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya presents its compliments to the British High Commission and has the honor to convey the decision … to lift all flight restrictions between Kenya and the United Kingdom.”

“All passengers irrespective of nationality and residency status coming to Kenya from the United Kingdom, irrespective of their route of travel to Kenya, shall be required to self-isolate upon arrival and take a subsequent test for four days after arrival,” the letter added.

In response to the good news, the website allAfrica quotes Kenya Airways acting Chief Commercial and Customer Officer Julius Thairu of saying the following:

“The resumption of flights to London, United Kingdom (UK) is in line with our plans to grow and expand our routes as restrictions lift which will positively impact the flow of trade and tourism across the region by offering our customers convenient travel across the world. This route offers our customers convenient connections to key destinations. We remain fully committed to offering our customers an onboard travel experience that has their health and safety in mind.”

To coincide with the resumption of flights between Nairobi and London, both counties have issued health protocols that arriving passengers must adhere to.

Kenya is still on the red list

United Kingdom Rules:

Passengers traveling to the UK from Kenya must be either UK national, Irish nationals or have a right of residence in the UK. They will also need to provide a negative COVID-19 certificate three days before travel, book a government-approved quarantine hotel within 14-days before arrival and take two COVID-19 tests if they have been in a red list country or territory ten days before arriving in the UK.

Kenya Rules:

Passengers arriving in Kenya from the United Kingdom must have a negative COVID-19 PCR test certificate conducted within 96 hours before arrival. This rule does not apply to children under five years old. Once in Kenya, they must self-isolate for seven days and take a second COVID-19 PCR test four days after arrival.

While it is nice to see Kenya Airways Nairobi to London flights return, it is hard to imagine that they will be busy since Kenya remains on the UK’s red list.

Source: Simple Flying

Covid-19: Dubai to be next big health tourism destination, DHA official says

Dubai is set to be the next big health tourism destination, with the emirate’s high vaccination rate boosting visitors’ confidence, a top health official has said.

“That is going to be the next big draw to Dubai. The UAE is the world’s most vaccinated country. With the world-class health infrastructure we have, people will look at Dubai as the next big destination for health tourism,” Dr Marwan Al Mulla, CEO of the Health Regulation Sector at the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), told Khaleej Times in an exclusive interview.

The UAE has now overtaken Israel and became the most vaccinated country in the world. As on Friday, the Emirates has administered over 13.2 million vaccine doses.

Dr Marwan said Dubai’s track record in dealing with Covid will encourage people to travel to the emirate not just for tourism but to seek quality healthcare.

“We are looking at markets like India, West Africa, Russia and even Europe for medical tourism. Our healthcare infrastructure has only strengthened after Covid-19.”

He said Dubai has a total of 40,000 licensed healthcare professionals in the public and private sector and the emirate is ready to offer elective health and wellness treatments to visitors.

With a government strategy to promote Dubai as a global medical hub and an increased investment in the health sector, the emirate is expected to attract 500,000 medical tourists this year, as per a study by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 2018, the city received about 337,000 medical tourists. Orthopaedics, sports medicine, dermatology and skin care, dentistry and fertility treatment are the top specialities attracting health tourists to Dubai.

A report by Euromonitor International forecasts UAE’s medical tourism revenues to touch Dh19 billion by 2023.

Recently, the DHA has launched the Dubai Health Experience (DXH), an online portal where visitors can book appointments with doctors and plan their medical itineraries.

Dr Marwan said that since Dubai is relying a “lot on tourism” — whether it is health or business tourism — it cannot afford a lockdown.

“We believe that the burden of the diseases should not be more than the burden of the treatment. Dubai is a very good example that we can control and contain the disease but at the same time allow business to flourish and continue. Otherwise, it will create a huge financial impact on all populations.”

“Covid will continue with mutations. We need to take precautionary measures and move on,” he added.

Source: Khaleej Times