Protect yourself against virus mutants during travel, UAE residents urged

Faisal Siddiqui, Staff Reporter

The UAE authorities have urged residents to protect themselves from the COVID-19 mutants if they are travelling outside the country.

The advise to UAE residents came during the weekly briefing on Tuesday on the coronavirus situation in the country.

“New developments have been monitored that have appeared in a number of countries in the world, and they are still under study and monitoring of their danger and impact on humans by experts and researchers at the international level,” official said during the briefing.

“Variants of SARS-CoV-2 appear at a high rate all over the world, so the epidemiological control centers and the World Health Organization are rapidly analyzing the characteristics of these variants to inform public health authorities,” official said during the briefing.

“International health reports indicate that there is a direct relationship between the severity of infection and advancing age, or in the case of weak immunity or the presence of chronic diseases, but all available vaccinations are still effective in reducing the severity of infection and the rate of hospitalization,” official said during the briefing.

“We recommend those wishing to travel or move in the coming days to protect yourselves by following the instructions of the countries you wish to go to, and to continue to adhere to the precautionary and preventive measures.”

Authorities also urged residents to get fully vaccinated quickly or to take booster shots.

“The World Health Organisation indicated the spread of worrying mutant in the world, where the delta mutant dominates in all countries of the world by this October, followed by the spread of the alpha mutant, which still appears in the Americas and some European countries,” official said.

It was also revealed in the briefing that the beta mutant is concentrated in the United States and South Africa, while the gamma mutant is still highly concentrated in South America.

Authorities also thanked residents their confidence in the health sector in the country, and the extent of its commitment during the past period to move towards a sustainable recovery from the health pandemic.

“We commend your role in the continued decrease in the number of injuries at the state level, bringing the rate under 100 daily injuries, and the decrease in deaths,” official said.