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world news Diaranson 20 Januari 2021

Dubai, party haven amid pandemic, faces its biggest surge

(AP) — Masks off the minute
you step inside. Bars packed and
pulsing like it’s 2019. Social me-
dia stars waving bottles of cham-
pagne. DJs spinning party tunes
through multi-hour brunches.

Since becoming one of the world's
first destinations to open up for
tourism, Dubai, in the United Arab
Emirates, has promoted itself as the
ideal pandemic vacation spot. It can-
not afford otherwise, analysts say, as
the virus shakes the foundations of
the city-state's economy.

With its cavernous malls, frenetic
construction and legions of foreign
workers, Dubai was built on the
promise of globalization, drawing
largely from the aviation, hospitality
and retail sectors — all hard hit by the
virus.

Now reality is catching up to the big-
dreaming emirate. With peak tourism
season in full swing, coronavirus in-
fections are surging to unprecedented
heights. Daily case counts have near- from a select list of countries don't virus tests in a parking lot, a guard ates, which received $2 billion in aid
ly tripled in the past month, forcing need to get tests before their trips but said wait times stretched over two last year. Other indebted firms in-
Britain to slam shut its travel corridor all must at Dubai's airport. hours. At least 80 people lined up as vested in hospitality and tourism may
with Dubai last week. But in the face the call to afternoon prayers echoed need help, especially with events like
of a growing economic crisis, the city “With vaccines coming out, they feel overhead. World Expo pushed back a year. S&P
won't lock down. it's not the end of the world, they're Global, a ratings agency, estimates
not going to die," she said. Hours after The Associated Press Dubai's debt burden to be some
“Dubai's economy is a house of published this story, the sheikhdom’s 148% of gross domestic product if
cards," said Matthew Page, a non- For those who do die of COVID-19, government-run Dubai Media Office state-linked industries are included.
resident scholar at the Carnegie En- long-haul airline Emirates offers to issued a statement saying the emirate
dowment for International Peace. “Its pay $1,800 to help cover funeral costs. "continues to maintain the highest Under pressure, authorities have
competitive advantage is being a place levels of protection against the pan- seized on vaccines as the only way to
where rules don't apply." As the outbreak worsens, it seems the demic and compliance with preven- contain the outbreak. Plastered across
stampede will slow. Israeli tourists, tive measures." front pages of state-linked newspa-
While most countries banned tour- who were coming in the tens of thou- pers are stories touting the mass in-
ists from the U.K. over fears of the sands following a normalization deal Analysts speculate the UAE’s unique oculation drive, which officials claim
fast-spreading virus variant found between the countries, have vanished demographics — 90% expatriate, to be the world’s second-fastest after
there, Dubai, home to some 240,000 due to new quarantine rules. A deci- comprising mostly healthy, young la- Israel, with 19 doses distributed for
British expats, kept its doors open for sion to suspend visa waivers for Israe- borers — have prevented well-staffed every 100 people as of Tuesday.
the holidays. Emirates flew five daily lis to the UAE until July took effect hospitals from becoming over-
flights to London’s Heathrow Air- Monday. Britain's move to mandate whelmed and kept the death rate low, The UAE is offering the Chinese
port. a 10-day quarantine for those return- at 0.3%. coronavirus vaccine Sinopharm to
ing from Dubai threatens to clobber everyone, even as its announcement
Within days, the new virus strain had what's left of the tourism sector. But that hasn’t assuaged Abu Dhabi, about the shot's efficacy lacks data and
arrived in the emirates, but that didn't Dubai's more conservative neigh- details. Demand has overwhelmed
stop reality TV and soccer stars from “Brits make up such an important bor and the country's capital. With- supply for the Pfizer-BioNTech vac-
fleeing Britain's lockdown and wintry proportion of tourists and investors out explanation, Abu Dhabi has kept cine in Dubai, where hotline opera-
weather for Dubai’s bars and beaches in Dubai,” said David Tarsh, spokes- its border with freewheeling Dubai tors say thousands of high-risk resi-
— without taking a coronavirus test man for ForwardKeys, a travel data- shut, despite promises to reopen by dents remain on a waiting list.
before boarding. Scenes of pre-pan- analysis company. “Cutting that pipe- Christmas. Anyone crossing into Abu
demic revelry were splattered across line ... is a complete disaster for the Dhabi must present a negative coro- With the country shattering its in-
British tabloids. Facing backlash, Ins- city." navirus test. fection record for seven consecutive
tagram influencers spotted at raucous days, Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Moham-
yacht parties were quick to proclaim British Transport Secretary Grant Relations between service-heavy med bin Rashid Al Maktoum, de-
their travel “essential.” Shapps tweeted that the govern- Dubai and oil-rich Abu Dhabi can clared that widespread vaccination,
ment's decision was prompted by the get tense. During the 2009 financial not movement restrictions, would
Dubai was glad of the influx. Hotel UAE's latest virus data. Beyond daily crisis, Abu Dhabi needed to rescue “accelerate the full recovery of our
occupancy rates surged to 71% in De- infections, however, the data is scant. Dubai with a $20 billion bailout. This country.”
cember, according to data provider The UAE does not make public in- time, it's unclear whether Dubai can
STR. The London-Dubai air route formation about disease clusters or count on another cash infusion, given But even if Dubai meets its goal of
ranked busiest in the world over the hospitalizations. the crash in global oil prices. inoculating 70% of the population by
first week of January, said OAG, an the end of 2021, Moody’s Investors
aviation data analysis firm. Amid an aggressive testing campaign, Even pre-pandemic, Dubai's econ- Service expects the UAE's economy
the country has reported more than omy was heading toward another to take three years to bounce back.
“People have had enough of this pan- 256,000 cases and 751 deaths. downturn thanks to a shaky real es-
demic already,” said Iris Sabellano tate market, which has plunged 30% “I don't think Dubai's days are num-
from Dubai's Al Arabi Travel Agency, On Tuesday, dozens of cars idled in value since 2014 peaks. The emir- bered,” said Page, the Carnegie schol-
adding that many of her clients have at a drive-in coronavirus clinic on ate and its web of government-linked ar. “But if the city were more modest
been forced to quarantine after test- Dubai’s desert outskirts awaiting entities face billions of dollars in debt and responsible, it would be a more
ing positive for the virus on arrival or tests. At Dubai’s American Hospital, repayments. Already the government sustainable place.”
before departure. Travelers coming where a makeshift tent administers has stepped in to help carrier Emir-