The richest emirate of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dubai, declared a two-week lockdown on Saturday beginning at 8 pm to conduct large-scale disinfection and prevent the coronavirus from escalating.
Mobility in the city will be limited, and legal action against violators will be taken, the Dubai Media Office disclosed on Saturday. The supermarkets and pharmacies shall continue to run as normal.
In heavily populated areas of the city, intensive medical monitoring will be done to avoid the spread of the virus and people are advised to remain at home.
In the first days of April, the number of cases of coronavirus has risen in the UAE, with over 1,500 people sickened and 10 deaths reported so far.
People can only go out to buy food, seek healthcare, and get coronavirus tests provided they wear a mask, gloves, and maintain social distance. Shopping can only be accomplished by one family member. During the lockout, bus travel will be free and a 50 percent discount will be offered on taxi rides.
Employees in critical industries are permitted to leave the house and go into work at any time. Dubai's subway and tram services will be suspended, except buses and other modes of transport provided by authorities.
The emirate had been under curfew along with the rest of its sister cities since March 26 but its Supreme Crisis and Disaster Management Committee said the lockout will now run for two weeks around the clock, state news agency WAM reported.
The authorities declared a lockdown and partial curfew in seven Jeddah neighborhoods in neighboring Saudi Arabia, also beginning on Saturday as part of steps to contain the outbreak, the Ministry of the Interior said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia is the country hardest affected by the pandemic within the alliance of Arab oil monarchies of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It had recorded 2,179 confirmed infections through Saturday.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Abu Dhabi extended until further notice the temporary closure of shopping centers, shopping malls, cinemas, arcades and other entertainment facilities in the Emirates.
The United Arab Emirates, where contaminated cases have increased by 840 since April, has expanded its de facto overnight curfew indefinitely by spraying highways, parks and public transit facilities to disinfect public areas.
In cases of coronavirus, the oil-rich federation announced an increase with several hundred people diagnosed since April 1 and a total number of cases of 1,505.
UAE reported 241 infections and one death over the past 24 hours on Saturday, bringing the total confirmed cases to 1,505 and the death toll to 10, according to state records.
