UAE extends daily disinfection programme, restricted movement to continue

The UAE will continue with its National Disinfection Programme as it seeks to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the Ministry of Health Prevention (MoHAP) and the Ministry of Interior (MoI) have announced.

The sterilisation programme, which is begin carried out daily from 8pm at night until 6am the following morning, was slated to conclude on the morning of Sunday, April 5.

Restrictions around the movement of traffic and people during the period will also continue, the ministries said.

The programme will be “subject to periodic assessment”, the statement added.

The move comes as the UAE announced 240 new Covid-19 cases late on Friday as well as one additional death, taking the death toll to nine and total number of cases to 1,264.

Read: Covid-19: UAE reports one additional death, 240 new cases

The UAE began the disinfection programme on Thursday, March 26, covering utilities, public transport as well as streets across the country.

It is being carried out with the participation of hundreds of workers, supervisors and administrators from federal and local governments.

New facilities and establishments will now be added to the disinfection plan in all emirates of the country.

Local authorities in each emirate will be able to draw and implement disinfection plans that will accommodate the requirements of its own facilities and establishments, the statement said.

The two ministries stressed the importance of cooperation from the general public to facilitate the work of teams.

Everyone is urged to stay home from 8pm until 6am the following day, unless it is “absolutely necessary to obtain essential food supplies or medicine or perform essential jobs in vital sectors”, officials said.

The list of vital sectors include energy, communication, health, education, security, and the police, along with the military, and the postal, freight, pharmaceutical, water, food, civil aviation, airport, passport, finance and banking, and government media sectors, and the services sector, which includes gas stations and construction projects.

Relevant categories will be verified by the authorities through business cards or ID cards.

The UAE announced last week that individuals will be slapped with a Dhs3,000 fine for violating the curfew set out during the disinfection programme.

Read: Covid-19 spread: UAE issues updated list of fines for violations