Middle East Experience

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) extended on Thursday the validity of expired health cards for three months, starting from March 24, as part of the government’s efforts to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.The DHA said it has issued a circular informing concerned healthcare providers that health card holders can avail necessary medical services, even if their card is expired, state news agency WAM reported.Visit our dedicated coronavirus site here for all the latest updates.The DHA added that it has extended the validity of expired health cards to facilitate the process for all DHA customers and make it easier for them to get necessary healthcare services, especially in light of the current circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.The Authority stressed it is exerting all efforts to ensure the health and wellbeing of community members by implementing extensive precautionary and prevention measures.There are 1,024 confirmed coronavirus cases and eight deaths in the UAE as of Thursday.Read more:Coronavirus: UAE extends entry suspension for visa holders abroad for two more weeksCoronavirus: Etihad operates flights to 7 destinations for those looking to leave UAE
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: Dubai extends validity of expired health cards for three months

Saudi Arabia implemented an earlier curfew start time in the city of Dammam and the governorates of al-Qatif and al-Taif as part of the Kingdom’s measures to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, according to the ministry of interior.The new curfew time, effective Friday, will start at 3 p.m. instead of the previously announced 7 p.m.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.The ministry said curfew exemptions still apply to those in vital public and private sectors such as security, military and media. Those who work in health services are also excluded from the curfew.The Kingdom imposed a quarantine on al-Qatif earlier last month. The temporary suspension of entry and exit was extended from the city’s Saihat district in the south to Safwa in the north, according to the interior ministry.Saudi Arabia also enforced a 24-hour daily curfew in Mecca and Medina on Thursday until further notice.Read more: Saudi Arabia enforces 24-hour daily curfew in Mecca, MedinaLast week, King Salman bin Abdulaziz approved measures that placed Riyadh, Mecca and Medina on lockdown, which is still in effect. Residents are still banned from entering or exiting the cities.A total of 1,885 people have contracted the virus in Saudi Arabia as of Thursday and 21 people have died, according to the health ministry. Of the total cases, 328 people have recovered.Read more:280 Saudi doctors stay in France to join frontline battle against coronavirusCoronavirus: Saudi Arabia records 1,885 total cases, 328 recoveriesDefer Hajj, Umrah plans urges Saudi Arabia amid pandemic
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia sets earlier curfew time in al-Qatif, al-Taif, Dammam city

As the PA struggles to cope with an ongoing financial crisis, the novel coronavirus is making things worse.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: COVID-19 expenses upending PA budget formulation

As countries across the world go into partial or total lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, one country is being held up as a model of how to control the disease without having to shut down the economy: South Korea.On Thursday, Seoul announced 101 new cases of coronavirus infection, marking the 20th day in a row when infections have grown at a rate of less than 150 people per day – a marked change to late February, when the country saw 909 infections in a single day.Unlike countries such as Italy or Spain, where huge increases in cases were met with countrywide lockdowns, South Korea never imposed a curfew or stopped its people from going to work. Despite this, South Korea managed to stabilize the infection rate – or “flattened the curve.”“Initially people were worried about the outbreak, but then they started to see the unbelievable numbers in Europe and elsewhere, and they started to realize that the South Korean government had actually done a really good job. It had handled the crisis really well,” said Al Arabiya’s reporter in South Korea, Ashwaq AlAtoli.The country’s relative success has attracted attention from across the world as a potential model. Countries such as Germany are reportedly trying to emulate South Korea’s approach, while a South Korean foreign ministry official said on Wednesday that the country had received requests from 121 other countries to help them test for the virus.But what is the South Korean model, how did the country “flatten the curve,” and would its approach work elsewhere?Quick responseOne of the hallmarks of South Korea’s success was that authorities reacted remarkably quickly to reports of the spread of coronavirus in nearby China.Just one week after the country reported its first case on January 20, the government ordered factories to start producing coronavirus test kits en masse. Within two weeks, the country was producing more than 100,000 test kits a day.Read more: Coronavirus test kits from S. Korea win US FDA pre-approval“We were very nervous. We believed that it could develop into a pandemic,” Lee Sang-won, an infectious diseases expert at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), told Reuters.“We acted like an army,” he said.Fortunately, the KCDC had run a test scenario in December, just before the outbreak, which ensured it was relatively well prepared when coronavirus struck.By contrast, the US – which detected its first case on the same day as South Korea – failed to react quickly. Although President Donald Trump has now enacted emergency powers which could force companies to manufacture medical goods, the country faces big shortages of testing kits – and had only tested 60,000 out of its around 350 million population as of mid-March.TestingThe rapid response was fruitful because it deployed the second key feature of South Korea’s success – testing a lot, and testing effectively.The mass manufacturing of tests allowed the government to successfully test significant parts of the population for coronavirus, rolling out over 600 testing centers and making testing easy and available. This mass of data allowed authorities to monitor the spread of the virus and treat those with it.“Testing is central because that leads to early detection, it minimizes further spread and it quickly treats those found with the virus,” South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told the BBC, describing the tests as “the key behind our very low fatality rate as well.”Only 169 people have died from coronavirus in South Korea, while 5,828 have recovered. In comparison, over 13,000 have died in Italy and over 10,000 people have died in Spain.South Korea also applied lessons learned from the 2015 MERS outbreak, which killed 36 people. Rather than rely on people with symptoms volunteering to be tested, authorities took a proactive approach which helped identify cases without symptoms which may have otherwise gone on to spread the virus further. MERS first emerged in 2012, but Korea had an outbreak in 2015.Using technology developed during the MERS outbreak, authorities were able to track cases using credit card records, GPS and security camera footage to find who those individuals came into contact with and ensure they were tested too.Transparency and public informationAs part of the drive to get people tested, authorities made information about the spread of the virus public.Public information campaigns began early, and experience from MERS meant that many South Koreans were familiar with wearing a face mask and practicing good hygiene.The government sent texts out to residents informing them when a case was discovered nearby and allowed access to its tracking data.“The government has been very transparent. It has announced all the cases in the country and shared information about which areas they are in and where they traveled to, and which restaurants or malls the person went to,” explained AlAtoli.“Residents have access to a live map where they can see all the information on a live tracking system. They track people via their credit card and CCTV to see exactly where they have been,” she added.Transparency and cooperationThis wealth of information allowed both governments and citizens to act effectively and responsibly to slow the spread of the virus – without authorities having to enforce overbearing nationwide regulations or shut down the economy.Rather than impose a blanket ban, the government used its data to limit movement only where it was necessary. Following the explosion of cases in Daegu, linked to a cult church in the city, the government swiftly imposed emergency measures.“South Korea could deal with this without limiting the movement of people because we knew the main source of infection, the church congregation, pretty early on,” said Ki Mo-ran, an epidemiologist advising the government’s coronavirus response, to the New York Times.“If we learned about it later than we did, things could have been far worse,” she added.Many citizens also opted to limit contact with others during the crucial two-week period at the end of February and beginning of March, said AlAtoli.Many chose to self-quarantine, and using the tracking data, they could also see which public spaces were high-risk areas for infection and should therefore be avoided.Now, unlike many other ghost towns across the world, South Korea’s cities are full of people going about their usual business. Crucially, many are practicing social distancing and almost everyone is wearing face masks.The global effectSouth Korea’s striking lack of a government-imposed lockdown meant that its economy did not shut down, in contrast to many of the other major world economies.This policy has put South Korea in a decent position for weathering the global economic slowdown while other countries in lockdown have been paralyzed, Professor Stephen Thomas, professor of finance and associate dean, MBA programs at Cass Business School in Dubai and London told Al Arabiya English.“Quite simply, lockdown paralyzes economic activity – it does not simply nudge it down a couple of percentage points but rather stops it in its tracks,” he said, citing the massive jump in US unemployment as the country grinds to a halt.However, Thomas added that like all countries, South Korea will still be hit by the global economic recession caused by coronavirus.“With exports comprising 40 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), there is no way South Korea can escape the wider global slowdown if countries such as the USA slip into recession – and that is a certainty now,” he said.With International Monetary Fund (IMF) experts warning that the coronavirus is “like a war” and some forecasting global GDP to drop by up to 30 percent, even South Korea’s successful model may not be enough to shield it from severe economic damage and lasting change.Risk of imported casesDespite South Korea’s relative success in “flattening the curve” of the coronavirus pandemic, it still faces risks of the virus reemerging in larger numbers – especially from travelers importing the virus back into the country.“Inside the country, the virus is under control. The only fear now is people coming from the outside. Thirty-five percent of new cases are people coming from the outside,” said AlAtoli.With airports open, travel to South Korea is relatively easy in comparison to countries which have tried to seal off their borders.To counter the risk of travelers from abroad spreading the virus, authorities announced on Wednesday strict rules for anyone arriving from abroad, including a mandatory two-week quarantine.The measures so far appear to be working given the country’s stable and relatively low number of new daily cases. However, considering that all it takes is one “super spreader” to slip through the net and infect hundreds, the outbreak in the country is by no means over.Last week, South Korean media highlighted three cases of foreign visitors who did not abide by the mandatory two-week quarantine period on arrival.In one case in the city of Suwon, a British man who reportedly returned from abroad without a face mask and refused to isolate, visited three cities and came into direct contact with at least 23 people. Although the man had no symptoms when he arrived in the country, he later tested positive for COVID-19, prompting the mayor of Suwon to promise he would be punished.In the wake of the threat, and with around 100 cases still being reported each day, South Korea has postponed its annual college entrance exam and canceled the planned reopening of schools, scheduled for early April.Nevertheless, with the rest of the world scrambling to contain the pandemic, governments are increasingly turning to South Korea as a model for success.
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: South Korea conquered coronavirus without a lockdown: a model to follow?

Arif Naqvi was a personal investor in the company founded by his former personal assistant
Source: Arabian Business
Full Article: Abraaj-backed The Modist shuts down after financial struggles

Coronavirus lockdowns hit poor people working in the informal economy hardest, but they are also the least likely to receive aid or healthcare from the government or heed calls to stay home, experts say.In the Middle East, middle-income Arab countries like Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya have large populations of informal workers, who depend on daily wages and have small safety nets to fall back on when they find themselves suddenly out of work.Iraq, considered an upper-middle income country with its oil wealth, faces similar problems as its regional brethren as it has a large population of informal workers as well.“These are old problems that are now becoming very apparent because of coronavirus,” Luca Pellerano, senior social protection specialist at the ILO Regional Office for Arab States told Al Arabiya English.In Lebanon, 55 percent of workers fall into this category and do not have paid sick leave or vacation days, according to data from the International Labor Organization (ILO). In Jordan, the situation looks similar to Lebanon. Both countries also have large populations of Syrian refugees who eke out a survival in the informal sector.Read more: Coronavirus lockdown more harm than help for Lebanese who can't afford to stay homeIn Egypt, the country’s informal sector accounts for 40 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), PwC data show. In Morocco, there were around 2.37 million workers in the informal economy in 2014 in a population of 35 million, according to the International Monetary Fund.Iraq’s systemic weaknesses place it in an unfavorable economic position to fight COVID-19. Iraq has oil wealth, but 4 million work for the state and 3 million receive pensions from the state, says Ahmad Tabaqchali, senior fellow and the Institute of Regional and International Studies in Iraq. The government’s budget, which is largely reliant on those oil revenues, will be eroded by $33-$52 billion, depending on oil prices, he said. Its budget for 2019 was $89 billion, of which $63 billion were earmarked for salaries, pensions and social security, he explains.“Additionally, the southern regions depend on religious tourism that has grinded to a halt,” Tabaqchali said.None of these states have particularly healthcare systems, and many lack access to those systems, because of their status within the formal system.“Access to healthcare and testing is particularly challenging for informal economy workers,” Pellerano said.Where many of these workers spend their days on the street driving cabs, selling food or hawking consumer goods, healthcare becomes a matter of personal and public health, he said.Countries across the region have implemented lockdowns of various scale and most have temporarily suspended flights to slow the spread of COVID-19, but few have developed policy responses to the vast numbers of informal economy workers.“I’m not sure any government outside Western Europe and North America really have the capacity to do much,” Alterman said.The US recently announced a $2 trillion stimulus package to help American people and businesses.Lebanon announced it would give families around $150-$200, well below the country’s minimum wage of $450 a month. For middle income countries with weak institutions, other more targeted approaches are needed, Pellerano said.“In countries like Lebanon and Jordan it’s a harder approach,” Pellerano said. “They’ll have to identify individuals and businesses that are particularly vulnerable and target them. They have to support household income but also support businesses to ensure they can quickly get back on their feet as economic lockdown measures are lifted.”For Dr. Shadi Saleh from the Global Health Institute, containment measures to slow the epidemic will need to be done in conjunction with an economic support package, targeting the poor and disadvantaged. For Lebanon alone, Saleh believes that by targeting a minimum of 300,000 people living in extreme poverty, the government will need to inject monthly $135 million.In middle income countries, governments do have some capacity to expand protection measures to groups who most need it, Alterman said.“They can provide food and services to people, though distribution is hard. There’s an expectation they’ll do something to continue education,” Alterman said. “There’s some ability to diagnose [coronavirus].”But like many of the people in these states, these governments also have little to fall back on. Lebanon, for example, which is currently in the midst of an economic crisis, recently defaulted on its sovereign debt and has one of the highest debt-to-GDP ratios in the world.Read more: Coronavirus: Governments send citizens cash to ease economic stressIn the past, these states have relied on their wealthy Gulf neighbors, but that funding may not be available this time. Jordan and Egypt have received less in the last few years from the Gulf, and Lebanon has likewise received less funding because of Hezbollah’s control over government and Iran’s influence, Alterman said.“The other piece of this is with oil prices at historic lows, the tradition of having wealthy Gulf States bailing out their poorer cousins is unlikely to work,” he said.Gulf States will likely have to focus on bailing out their own economies as the coronavirus crisis drags on.Unorthodox responsesLeft to their own devices, countries must quickly come up with solutions to help all those affected by coronavirus, and that doesn’t only include those at the bottom.“It is clear that the unprecedented health but also economic crises we’re witnessing requires unorthodox response policies to all challenges,” the ILO’s Pellerano said.Countries worldwide are increasing childcare benefits, old age benefits and disability benefits, but most support is targeted to those in the existing formal system.Meanwhile, the crisis is already taking its toll.In Lebanon, a video emerged of a cab driver setting his car on fire, frustrated with the lack of work. Experts question whether Arab governments will be able to move fast enough to address the impact of the crisis on the poor.In Lebanon, the World Bank warned in November 2019 that poverty could rise to 50 percent while Banker Dan Azzi has put unemployment at 37 percent.“If local demand is suppressed because families don’t have available resources to spend and acquire what they need, then it’s a negative spiral that makes any recovery harder in the medium to long run,” Pellerano said.
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Informal workers in Arab world hit hardest by coronavirus, unlikely to get help

The first payments will be sent to companies in May
Source: Arabian Business
Full Article: Saudi government to cover 60% of private sector salaries hit by Covid-19

OSN set to relaunch is streaming platform today
Source: Arabian Business
Full Article: OSN signs exclusive Middle East rights to Disney+ Originals

Al Futtaim Health have opened six drive throughs where residents can get tested for $100
Source: Arabian Business
Full Article: Three new Covid-19 drive-through test centres to open in Dubai

The country's lockdown prompted by the coronavirus pandemic ends on April 15
Source: Arabian Business
Full Article: India mulls resumption of passenger flights from UAE