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Dubai Airports boss blasts UK journey ban as visitors slumps close to 70%

Dubai Airports boss blasts UK travel ban as traffic slumps near 70%

Emirates operated aircraft at Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates.

Christopher Pike | Bloomberg | Getty Images

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Dubai Airports General Manager has made a decision by the UK authorities to keep the UAE on their “red” list for international travel as new data from the group shows that passenger traffic through the airport has dropped at 67, The first quarter fell 8%.

“I think the approach is wrong,” Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths told Dubai Eye Radio on Thursday, expressing frustration with the rule prohibiting air travel or costly quarantine for thousands of Britons in the Emirates upon arrival forces who want to go home.

UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that given its status as an international transport hub, the UAE could stay on the list despite falling cases and the second fastest vaccination rate in the world.

“I can’t be too honest with you about my thoughts on these comments,” Griffiths said when asked to respond. “We have made very strong claims to the UK government about the credibility of the numbers here and the way we deal with everything.”

Griffiths called for “a far more proactive relationship” to address confusion over the verdict as public frustration mounts. The UAE remains on the United Kingdom’s Red List, although Abu Dhabi has the United Kingdom on its own “green” list of travel destinations.

“There are countries on the green list (UK) that we believe have not taken the care and the number of measures that we have taken here in Dubai to keep everyone safe,” Griffiths said. “Getting back to life as we once knew it is just not practical.”

The UK Foreign Office and Transport Department spokespersons were not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. Last week Shapps said, “We are not restricting the UAE because of the coronavirus levels in the UAE. The problem is the transit problem.”

The UK Foreign Office is currently advising against “all but essential travel throughout the United Arab Emirates, based on the current assessment of COVID-19 risks.”

A health worker checks a man’s temperature before receiving a dose of coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center at the Dubai International Financial Center in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on February 3, 2021. The United Arab Emirates has seen an increase in cases after the holiday season.

Photo by KARIM SAHIB | AFP via Getty Images

The United Arab Emirates has delivered more than 9.9 million vaccine doses from its population of around 10 million people, just behind Israel in the global vaccination race. Dubai residents can choose between the China-made Sinopharm vaccine, the UK-developed AstraZeneca, the America-made Pfizer Stuff, or the Russian Sputnik V, while Abu Dhabi residents could only access Sinopharm until Pfizer last week at Emirate of the capital was introduced.

Some in the medical community have expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the Sinopharm shot due to conflicting numbers from interim studies and a lack of published data on the Phase 3 trials. It has not yet been approved by the World Health Organization.

Economic and personal costs

The UK list, which will be reviewed in the coming weeks, lists 40 high-risk countries considered too dangerous to travel, including India, which is in a national crisis due to rising infection rates and rising death tolls.

The ban also had real ramifications for Dubai Airports, which call London a “key city” for passenger traffic at Dubai Airport. Before the pandemic, more than 6 million people would fly between the two cities in a single year, Griffiths said.

“It is almost unthinkable not to have a solid 28-a-day flight bridge between here and the UK,” said Griffiths. “The irony, of course, is that you can fly to Scotland, but not England.”

“It is obviously something that everyone here in Dubai is trying very hard to resolve very quickly.”

The ruling also affects many of the roughly 120,000 British nationals living and working in the United Arab Emirates and their family members who have expressed confusion and anger, particularly over the hotel quarantine requirement which is costing a hefty £ 1,750 (US $ 2,428) per person Person.

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Health

Biden indicators order requiring vacationers put on masks on planes and at airports as pandemic rages

Biden signs order requiring travelers wear masks on planes and at airports as pandemic rages

Passengers, almost all with face masks, board an American Airlines flight to Charlotte on May 3, 2020 in New York City.

Eleonore Sens | AFP | Getty Images

President Joe Biden signed an ordinance on Thursday requiring masks to be worn on planes, trains, buses, and airports as coronavirus infections continue to rise.

The Trump administration declined to use masks for air travel and other transportation, leaving private companies to set their own guidelines, despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention having repeatedly recommended their use.

That left flight attendants and other staff to enforce the rules. Unions pushing for a federal mask mandate cheered Biden’s orders.

“What a difference leadership makes! We applaud President Biden’s nationwide approach to fighting the virus and getting out of this pandemic,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the country’s largest flight attendants union. in a statement. “Today’s action by the executive regarding a mask mandate for interstate travel, including airports and airplanes, will provide much-needed support to flight attendants and aviation workers on the front lines.

Julie Hedrick, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents American Airlines cabin crews, also welcomed the move.

“As passengers travel on different airlines and through different airports, they deserve clear expectations of the rules. We thank President Biden for addressing this immediately,” she said in a statement.

All major US airlines require travelers to wear masks on board – a policy that extends to airports. Airline executives say the vast majority of customers follow the rule, but they vow to take a tough line against those who refuse. In the past week, airlines banned more than 2,500 people from flying for refusing to wear face covers. The FAA noted that some rare cases have even turned violent.

The FAA warned earlier this month to crack down on recalcitrant behavior and travelers who fail to follow instructions from the crew and fined those travelers up to $ 35,000.

Air travelers, including citizens, are recently required to show a negative Covid-19 test result before flying to the U.S. from overseas, Biden ordered, reiterating a CDC policy revealed last week. This rule takes effect on Tuesday.

Biden said travelers would have to self-quarantine upon arrival.

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Business

Disneyland as a Vaccination Website? Airports as Check Facilities? The Journey Trade Pitches In

Disneyland as a Vaccination Site? Airports as Test Centers? The Travel Industry Pitches In

Many corners of the travel industry are looking for a way to end the pandemic.

More than a dozen U.S. airports including Chicago O’Hare and Chicago Midway, Los Angeles International, Tampa, Newark, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. In many terminals, XpresSpa has evolved from offering airport massages and manicures to rapid coronavirus tests.

Covid19 vaccinations>

Answers to your vaccine questions

If I live in the US, when can I get the vaccine?

While the exact order of vaccine recipients may vary from state to state, most doctors and residents of long-term care facilities will come first. If you want to understand how this decision is made, this article will help.

When can I get back to normal life after the vaccination?

Life will only get back to normal once society as a whole receives adequate protection against the coronavirus. Once countries have approved a vaccine, they can only vaccinate a few percent of their citizens in the first few months. The unvaccinated majority remain susceptible to infection. A growing number of coronavirus vaccines show robust protection against disease. However, it is also possible that people spread the virus without knowing they are infected because they have mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. Scientists don’t yet know whether the vaccines will also block the transmission of the coronavirus. Even vaccinated people have to wear masks for the time being, avoid the crowds indoors and so on. Once enough people are vaccinated, it becomes very difficult for the coronavirus to find people at risk to become infected. Depending on how quickly we as a society achieve this goal, life could approach a normal state in autumn 2021.

Do I still have to wear a mask after the vaccination?

Yeah, but not forever. The two vaccines that may be approved this month clearly protect people from contracting Covid-19. However, the clinical trials that produced these results were not designed to determine whether vaccinated people could still spread the coronavirus without developing symptoms. That remains a possibility. We know that people who are naturally infected with the coronavirus can spread it without experiencing a cough or other symptoms. Researchers will study this question intensively when the vaccines are introduced. In the meantime, self-vaccinated people need to think of themselves as potential spreaders.

Will it hurt What are the side effects?

The vaccine against Pfizer and BioNTech, like other typical vaccines, is delivered as a shot in the arm. The injection is no different from the ones you received before. Tens of thousands of people have already received the vaccines, and none of them have reported serious health problems. However, some of them have experienced short-lived symptoms, including pain and flu-like symptoms that usually last a day. It is possible that people will have to plan to take a day off or go to school after the second shot. While these experiences are not pleasant, they are a good sign: they are the result of your own immune system’s encounter with the vaccine and a strong response that ensures lasting immunity.

Will mRNA vaccines change my genes?

No. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use a genetic molecule to boost the immune system. This molecule, known as mRNA, is eventually destroyed by the body. The mRNA is packaged in an oily bubble that can fuse with a cell, allowing the molecule to slide inside. The cell uses the mRNA to make proteins from the coronavirus that can stimulate the immune system. At any given moment, each of our cells can contain hundreds of thousands of mRNA molecules that they produce to make their own proteins. As soon as these proteins are made, our cells use special enzymes to break down the mRNA. The mRNA molecules that our cells make can only survive a few minutes. The mRNA in vaccines is engineered to withstand the cell’s enzymes a little longer, so the cells can make extra viral proteins and trigger a stronger immune response. However, the mRNA can hold for a few days at most before it is destroyed.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California has been closed to guests since March. in December they loaned one of their ultra-cold freezers to a hospital in nearby Salinas; The special freezer can maintain temperatures of minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit, which is necessary for the safe storage of some coronavirus vaccines.

During the first few weeks of the pandemic, the State Fair of West Virginia signed an agreement with the Greenbrier County Health Department that promised the use of their facilities for testing, vaccinations, and possibly even a hospital for emergencies. The site, which was closed in 2020, has since been the location for three free drive-through testing clinics and is currently operated as a vaccination center for residents.

Many of Orange County’s residents who receive their vaccination puffs at Disneyland will have coronavirus tests done at the Anaheim Convention Center, which, like convention centers across the country, stalled in March. Jay Burress, President and CEO of Visit Anaheim, estimates the freeze cost the city $ 1.9 billion in lost revenue. He responded by donating unused supplies to local nonprofits. In July, the parking lot of the congress center was converted into a mass test area.

“How do we safely open again? That was our goal all along, ”said Mr. Burress. “Marketing our goal, either as a vacation destination or as a conference destination when hotels aren’t even open for vacation travel, is turning your wheels.”

Sharon Decker is President of the Tryon Resort, North Carolina, which includes 250 rooms and an equestrian center, plus a 300,000 square foot indoor arena on 1,600 acres at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She wasn’t surprised in October when officials from Polk County, NC asked if she would be willing to donate this arena as a vaccination site, even though she knew doing so would pose logistical challenges. The site opened in mid-December.

“We have established a real partnership with public health officials,” she said. “It had to be a real public-private partnership to make this happen. But if you have common goals for a healthy economy and healthy businesses, this is the way to find out. “