UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
A Tale of Two Emirates
Dubai reopened after a coronavirus lockdown in July, relatively early. The other major emirate in the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, remained closed until more recently. Even now, Abu Dhabi only allows those who test negative for Covid-19 to enter the region.
It’s clear why the two emirates took different approaches to the pandemic. Dubai depends on foreign tourism and international travel. The city’s vital property market took a big hit due to a slump in sales, the Associated Press wrote. The Dubai-based air carrier Emirates required a $2 billion bailout.
Abu Dhabi, on the other hand, lives off oil riches and its massive sovereign wealth fund. “Dubai just falls apart if you have to shut down travel and social distance (while…) Abu Dhabi is almost unaffected,” said Jim Krane, a former foreign correspondent who is now a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute, in an interview with the Washington Post.
Lifting the restrictions has resulted in a spike in cases, casting doubt on the future of both emirates, however, Robert Mogielnicki, a scholar at the US-based Arab Gulf States Institute told Media Line, a nonprofit news organization covering the Middle East.
The UAE recently counted almost 1,000 new cases, Reuters wrote, adding that the country does not specify where the sick live. But officials said most new infections came from gatherings that the authorities have been working hard to suppress, as the Gulf News explained.
In Abu Dhabi, authorities are charging a bridegroom, his father and the father of the bride for organizing their wedding – an illegal gathering, the Abu Dhabi-based National wrote. They face fines of $2,700 and other potential punishments. Guests at the wedding face $1,350 fines.
In Dubai, managers of the department store Day-to-Day failed to anticipate a huge crowd when they advertised a sale featuring discounts of as much as 90 percent. Officials closed the store and fined its owners for flouting rules mandating social distancing.
The government is weighing whether to issue another lockdown. But geopolitics might be giving Emir Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is president of the UAE, pause.
On Sept. 15, Bahraini and UAE leaders met for a signing ceremony at the White House to normalize relations with Israel. Israel and the UAE are now cooperating on research to stop the spread of the virus, reported the Times of Israel. They are also working on weapons deals, as Haaretz wrote.
Abu Dhabi has already ordered local hotels to serve Kosher food in anticipation of Israeli visitors, according to the New York Post.
The pandemic is difficult to accommodate when the need to move forward is so strong.
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