Top Dubai officials reveal coronavirus strategy
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#UAEnews #Dubai #COVID-19
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NewsTranscript
00:00:00The malls are bustling with activity, the schools have reopened and flights are cutting
00:00:16down in rapid succession in Dubai.
00:00:19The city is back where it belongs on the world stage and with all eyes on Expo 2020 Dubai,
00:00:26the transition to normality is complete.
00:00:32How did Dubai beat COVID-19?
00:00:35Like other parts of the world, Dubai too grappled with the coronavirus.
00:00:39But an entire community worked together to fight the virus and then ensure that it was
00:00:44safe for the people to get back to offices, schools, parks and restaurants.
00:00:52It was not easy, there were sacrifices to be made, but when the people stood together
00:00:56as one, there was no turning back.
00:01:01This is the story of hope in the midst of adversity, the journey of a city that is back
00:01:07on its feet after spiritedly fighting COVID-19.
00:01:15The story of Dubai reopening after the pandemic is one of grit and determination, courage
00:01:20and fortitude.
00:01:23What looked like an insurmountable task around the world was made possible in Dubai by strategic
00:01:29planning and foresight.
00:01:33Everyone is responsible in the fight against COVID and today, because of the direction
00:01:38of the leaders, the hard work of thousands of people who toiled on the frontlines and
00:01:43behind the scenes and the discipline of residents in following COVID protocols, the worst is
00:01:48behind us.
00:01:51Dubai Police was an integral part of the operation to tackle the pandemic.
00:01:55Whether it was implementing orders by the government or enforcing precautionary measures
00:02:01or even observing restrictions on movement, Dubai Police did it all with patience and
00:02:07professionalism.
00:02:11The police initiated several programs where public participation was crucial in an effort
00:02:17to engage residents and spread awareness.
00:02:47In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the leadership of Dubai Police had several workshops
00:02:58with leaders from around the world, including the police in New York, Italy and France.
00:03:04We were able to see the challenges they faced compared to the challenges we were facing.
00:03:09This was one of the best practices we had at that time.
00:03:14Today, the Dubai Police is in charge of implementing a number of measures related to the COVID-19
00:03:26pandemic.
00:03:27We are talking about the implementation of precautionary measures, such as wearing a
00:03:32mask or social distancing.
00:03:35We were able to see the challenges they were facing.
00:03:39We were able to see the challenges they were facing.
00:03:42We were able to see the challenges they were facing.
00:03:45We were able to see the challenges they were facing.
00:03:48We were able to see the challenges they were facing.
00:03:51We were able to see the challenges they were facing.
00:03:54We were able to see the challenges they were facing.
00:03:57We were able to see the challenges they were facing.
00:04:00We were able to see the challenges they were facing.
00:04:03We were able to see the challenges they were facing.
00:04:06We were able to see the challenges they were facing.
00:04:09We were able to see the challenges they were facing.
00:04:12We were able to see the challenges they were facing.
00:04:19At the heart of operations to battle the coronavirus was Dubai's COVID-19 Command and Control Center.
00:04:27The nerve center of Dubai's response brought together all government departments,
00:04:33which made coordination faster and easier.
00:04:44The center's success stemmed from the structures and systems put in place for every aspect of the fight against COVID.
00:04:57The Dubai COVID-19 Command and Control Center was established through a decree by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
00:05:03The Dubai COVID-19 Command and Control Center was established through a decree by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
00:05:09the Crown Prince of Dubai, the Chairperson of the Executive Council.
00:05:13The Command and Control Center was responsible for unifying the efforts in the Emirate of Dubai in managing the pandemic.
00:05:22By unifying the efforts, it's a whole-of-government approach.
00:05:26It's mainly around bringing the public and private sector together in the healthcare arena,
00:05:32setting the policies and procedures for all activities across the city that would contain the pandemic,
00:05:41and make sure that we have enough capacity in terms of healthcare to manage the functions,
00:05:47and make sure that these are informed by science and by data,
00:05:53and also to keep the public informed with the dynamic changes of the situation.
00:06:00The other role we had was to align our policies and our plans with the National Authority for Crisis Management and Emergency Management,
00:06:13and CEMA, and the Ministry of Health and Prevention.
00:06:16So the day-to-day activities was to mainly manage the Emirate of Dubai,
00:06:20and also make sure that we're aligned with the national efforts across the system.
00:06:29The Roads and Transport Authority was quick to formulate strategies to fight the spread of COVID in Dubai.
00:06:37The entire fleet of trains, trams, buses, and taxis, along with the stations,
00:06:43were disinfected every day, and transport frontline employees were screened regularly.
00:06:52Passenger capacity was reduced to ensure social distancing, and the use of masks was made mandatory.
00:07:03RTA also used artificial intelligence technologies, such as computer vision and machine learning algorithms,
00:07:11to detect and report violations of COVID-19 preventive measures.
00:07:23Various measures were adopted, focusing on four main elements.
00:07:30The first one is protecting the health of all employees,
00:07:36ensuring also the safety of the public through the sanitization of all the facility and transport modes.
00:07:44The third one is ensuring continuity of our services,
00:07:49and also supporting the Dubai government efforts in tackling the outbreak of COVID-19.
00:07:56We sanitize our fleet and facility daily.
00:08:00In addition to the sanitization of various public transport modes,
00:08:06the following measures were introduced also on resuming the services.
00:08:14The capacity onboard for the public transport modes, including the metro, trams, and buses,
00:08:20and the marine transport, was reduced to enforce social distances between riders.
00:08:31Dubai's hospitals were on the front lines of the fight against the pandemic.
00:08:39While doctors and nursing staff treated infected patients with care,
00:08:44the general public were reassured that should the eventuality of hospitalization arise, there was nothing to fear.
00:08:50It's very difficult to talk about a DHA strategy when it comes to COVID-19.
00:08:57It really is a national strategy.
00:09:01So it's a UAE strategy and a Dubai strategy,
00:09:05because it required alignment and support and coordination by everybody.
00:09:12With that coordinated approach, I think the strategy was also dynamic.
00:09:17I think the strategy was also dynamic with different phases of the pandemic.
00:09:23So the basic principles, the basic public health and epidemiologic principles of social distancing,
00:09:31of face covers and masks, of containing people who are infected or contacts of people who have the disease,
00:09:41so with quarantine and isolation,
00:09:42these have been sort of the basic pillars of controlling the pandemic.
00:09:50And then for those who are unfortunate enough to get the disease,
00:09:55really making sure that the health system is ready to treat them and to help them recover.
00:10:01During the pandemic, key messages had to be delivered to people of 200 nationalities in the Emirate,
00:10:09quickly and accurately.
00:10:11That's where the Government of Dubai Media Office stepped in.
00:10:17Teamwork, message alignment and joint effort through task forces helped the office do its job to perfection.
00:10:31People were the core of communication and a range of tools were deployed to send the message across.
00:10:42Well, in any crisis, the media plays a very important role to unite everyone towards clarity and healing and recovery.
00:10:51And the key, speed, accuracy, credibility and transparency.
00:10:57The communication team was committed to pave the way on this bumpy ride.
00:11:03We knew that the government communication and the media teams had to write the story from scratch.
00:11:11And on top of that, they had to make sure that this story reached everyone.
00:11:17And when I say everyone, I am referring to more than 200 nationalities that exist and live here in the UAE.
00:11:25When you have such diversity, you need to think outside the box.
00:11:30Yes, the official and traditional communication channels remained the backbone, but this was a human problem.
00:11:39It affected human lives drastically.
00:11:42We had to reach families, homes, businesses, labour communities, schools and beyond.
00:11:49So we started innovating in our tools.
00:11:51The world as we knew it is rapidly changing and our teams worked harder than ever to tell the right story.
00:12:01We tapped into every channel possible.
00:12:05Social media, billboards, creative films, funny videos, virtual activations, you name it.
00:12:15And throughout this long process, we had engaged multiple communities.
00:12:19The media, the government, the business industry, the influencers, and anyone who wished to join us during this important time.
00:12:30I was part of the media cell formed by the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, NSEMA.
00:12:38And we worked together to ensure every announcement and message was consistent with the broader national strategic framework to fight the pandemic.
00:12:46Ultimately, all our work was aimed at serving the best interest of the nation in this time of crisis.
00:12:53It was our responsibility to communicate vital messages to the community and raise public awareness on key issues and precautionary guidelines.
00:13:01The Dubai Executive Council played a major role in ensuring that government departments continued working despite the disruptions around.
00:13:11Dubai government staff became a model for implementing COVID safety protocols.
00:13:19And when things began looking up, employees returned to work wearing masks and masks.
00:13:24Maintaining physical distancing and following other COVID-related restrictions.
00:13:31Slowing the spread of the virus was one thing, creating a strategy to reopen the city was another.
00:13:41The Executive Council not only planned the gradual reopening of Dubai, but also ensured that the city was safe.
00:13:49The Executive Council not only planned the gradual reopening of Dubai, but also ensured that both the social and economic life were protected.
00:14:03When the crisis hit us, we had to mobilize a full team that will be responsible to respond to this crisis.
00:14:12And one of the first things we've done was to establish the Command and Control Center.
00:14:16In the early stages of the Command and Control Center, we had to put our strategy and our action plan together.
00:14:23And we definitely looked at best practices, we looked at benchmarks, we looked at how countries and cities started reacting to the pandemic because by its nature, it was new and unique.
00:14:35And in Dubai, we also were lucky enough to bring in the public and private sector and subject matter experts locally who helped us to shape that strategy.
00:14:46So we did customize our own strategy that was based on four stages.
00:14:51The first stage was basically slowing the spread of the virus.
00:14:54The second stage of it was basically a gradual reopening.
00:14:58And then from there, our third stage was basically as part of our safeguarding and protecting and lifting the restrictions, be it the social life, the economic life,
00:15:09and eventually leading to the fourth stage, which is the full recovery, or basically building our readiness for the coming era, which is the new normal.
00:15:26When the coronavirus hit, schools were closed and children stayed home, but teaching continued online.
00:15:34Teachers and students quickly switched to the new mode of learning via computers, tablets, and phones.
00:15:45Over time, attention shifted to when and how schools would reopen, a task that required considerable preparation.
00:15:55Children were first given the option of choosing whether they wanted to go back to face-to-face learning or continue studying from home.
00:16:07In the end, it was a learning experience for everyone.
00:16:11I think it didn't really register till when we were talking about, hang on, we need to shift the spring break two weeks ahead.
00:16:22And, you know, so we can have time to prepare for, you know, technology and distance learning and figure this and maybe it's, you know, might be all over again.
00:16:33But let's move the spring break.
00:16:34And we accepted those decisions because I think for most of the time we were dealing with something we did not know, nobody knew.
00:16:42And so any decision about closing something or shifting something was, you know, fine.
00:16:48It was not easily accepted, but we had nothing else.
00:16:52We couldn't do anything about it.
00:16:55People felt comfortable.
00:16:56Okay, maybe now we start opening after Eid.
00:16:58I remember protocols were designed in a way for different segments.
00:17:02And we felt better because now we are moving toward not closing, but toward opening more.
00:17:08One of the big milestones that we have worked together with our partners,
00:17:15One of the big milestones that we have worked together with various entities on the government, whether state or federal.
00:17:28And in that time, right after Eid, I think in mid end of May, beginning of June.
00:17:34And we were really keying about the message has to be clear.
00:17:38September, there is a schooling.
00:17:45To ensure that nothing was left to chance and that every crucial decision making aspect was linked to international developments,
00:17:52a treatment protocol task force was formed.
00:18:02A field hospital was set up at the World Trade Center with 3,000 beds, complete with oxygen supply for critical patients at the ICU level.
00:18:11Ventilators were sourced from across the world and healthcare professionals were trained to work outside their areas of speciality.
00:18:24There are national guidelines for the management of COVID that's been brought out by Abu Dhabi in cooperation with all the health regulatory bodies in the UAE.
00:18:35With the rapid development occurring in COVID management, we've decided to form a treatment protocol task force in Dubai
00:18:45that is headed by MBRU, the Mohammed bin Rashid University, and has representation from DHA and the private sector.
00:18:54And their remit is to go through the most recent literature and get the latest evidence for treatment of COVID.
00:19:05And what we do is we utilize an inspection team that we formed during the first surge of COVID.
00:19:16And this team visits the hospitals, both government and private, to ensure that patients are being treated within the right category.
00:19:32Thousands of doctors, nurses, paramedics and staff work tirelessly in Dubai's hospitals and clinics to save precious lives during the pandemic.
00:19:46Local and expatriate staff in public and private hospitals worked 12 to 14 hour shifts, some living alone in hotels near hospitals, unable to go home for months.
00:20:04Dubai's Rashid Hospital was in the forefront of the battle against COVID.
00:20:09More doctors and nurses were hired, the number of intensive care beds was increased, and specialized medical equipment was acquired to tackle the pandemic head on.
00:20:25Three core principles helped nurses cope with the pandemic. Adapt to changes quickly, be healthy, and care is the core of nursing.
00:20:36So since the beginning of this pandemic, the emergency medicine team, along with Rashid Hospital administration at Dubai Health Authority, have come up with lots of initiatives to address this matter.
00:20:49We developed new working procedures on how to deal with the confirmed cases and the non-confirmed cases from the beginning of their medical journey.
00:21:02And that also created a high pressure on us.
00:21:06The administration, with their wise judgment, have made earlier collaborations between all the hospitals, all the primary health care centers, all the quarantine centers, all the quarantine hotels, and also there is a command center.
00:21:27So this collaboration, discussion between them, which center to take which type of cases, have made the pressure less on us.
00:21:38All throughout this course of pandemic, I think the best things that a nurse should have, or should I say, I will share my personal formula in being a nurse and in dealing with patients are my ABCs.
00:21:52A is to adapt to changes. If you learn to adapt to the changes in the environment, you will develop the changes also into yourself as to rendering a good patient care and also avoid negativities and to provide yourself a focused, more optimistic side.
00:22:09Also, be healthy.
00:22:10C, care as your core.
00:22:12Synonymous to being a nurse is care.
00:22:15We love life and we fight for patients' lives too.
00:22:19The most important thing in this case, to educate ourselves how to take the proper precautions, how to protect ourselves at the first line.
00:22:29Then we can deliver the services to the patients safely and in high quality standard.
00:22:36What was our preparedness plan?
00:22:38It was about developing and initiating multiple task force related to the workflow management, related to the services delivered to the patients, the quality of health of our staffs as well as frontliner.
00:22:53By creating these task force, we have run out from this pandemic successfully.
00:23:01Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, popularly called the RT-PCR test, was one of the most crucial factors in containing the transmission of COVID-19 in Dubai.
00:23:15The efficiency of this test and the team that worked behind this helped frontline workers quickly identify COVID-positive cases and provide immediate medical facilities.
00:23:31Reflecting back on the experience we had with our testing work stream, one of the first important milestones we had was recruitment of the team that would work around ramping up the capacity.
00:23:49We looked at ramping the capacity number of tests and also, as important, the turnaround time, that is from the collection of the swab to the reporting of the test result.
00:24:00Obviously, there's a lot of processes within and we wanted to make sure that we are achieving our goal by providing ease access, safe, quality testing for our community.
00:24:15While we were building this framework, there was also a parallel to that, building up the quality standards for testing for the Emirate of Dubai to make sure that any laboratory or any hospital, any clinic that was providing the service was following the right standards and we can compare results very comfortably between different providers.
00:24:38Fearless and determined to honour their medical oath were staff at the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services, who saw it as an opportunity to serve the country.
00:24:53First responders reached out to cries for help and paramedics rushed to make critical decisions. They were times that tested the resolve of the best.
00:25:07There were approximately 122 ambulances in the Emirate of Dubai, in addition to 24 ambulances that were sent to the patients at the beginning of the pandemic.
00:25:19We focused on an initiative that we called your test on us. This car moves to the homes to test the elderly, as well as the elderly citizens, so that when a person moves to their home, we can do corona tests in their homes.
00:25:45The Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services has proven its ability and capabilities to deal with all kinds of cases during the corona pandemic.
00:25:56First of all, this is a humanitarian service. The right leadership gave us moral support and increased it. At the institution, they gave us courses, they gave us workshops on how to deal with the corona virus and all infectious diseases. We are ready for corona and infectious diseases for the next 40 hours.
00:26:18Of course, as a doctor, and in the shade of this pandemic, I remember the medical oath, which is to pledge to the Lord of the worlds to serve and protect the life of man in all circumstances, save lives and deal with disease and anxiety.
00:26:34Of course, my profession as a doctor is a humanitarian profession in the first place. This is a simple and beautiful response to what the state has presented to us as the first line of defense.
00:26:48Emergency plans and quick response ensured the continued availability of water, electricity and vital resources to Dubai's residents during difficult times.
00:27:01Dubai Electricity and Water Authority's advanced digital infrastructure greatly contributed to the continuity of its services, with teams of engineers and technicians placed at various locations across the emirate to handle emergencies.
00:27:19In the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, we dealt with the COVID-19 period according to all stages.
00:27:31As soon as the spread of the COVID-19 virus was announced, and before it turned into a pandemic, we implemented plans to continue the services of electricity and water in various scenarios to ensure the availability of these strategic and vital resources for the Emirate of Dubai.
00:27:53After the announcement of the pandemic turning into a pandemic, we implemented emergency plans and continuity of operations, which were tested several times to ensure the continuity of operations.
00:28:05The Emergency and Crisis Team was also activated to monitor the effectiveness of response and coordination with strategic partners at the Emirate and State levels, and coordination with the Emergency and Crisis Committee for the Emirate of Dubai.
00:28:36Parks, shopping malls, restaurants and cinemas took precautionary measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus, but encouraged the people back.
00:28:47The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing also introduced a Dubai Assured Stamp, a compliance protocol that certifies establishments within the tourism ecosystem that adhere to health and safety protocols.
00:29:06Looking specifically at the tourism sector, the tourism sector shut down like any other back in April last year.
00:29:14The first thing that happened is we communicated with the industry in Dubai on a regular basis.
00:29:21We held online workshops every couple of weeks to make sure that both us and the industry could work together hand in hand on how to plan for the industry to come back.
00:29:31When it came to May, we decided it was time and the precautionary measures were ready to reopen the tourism sector, albeit in May it was the domestic side.
00:29:41Then the plan began to open to international tourism. International tourism opened in July and we found that the market began coming back.
00:29:51We are lucky in Dubai that our tourists and residents and the people of Dubai do comply and follow the guidelines that we put together.
00:30:01There is a level of trust that we have seen between the people and the government, especially when it comes to their respect to the guidelines that we provide.
00:30:09We are logical and we take subject matter experts' opinion and we do make sure that whatever guidelines and provisions we put in is acceptable and adoptable.
00:30:29From inspections to disinfection drives to treating medical waste, the Dubai municipality had its hands full.
00:30:40Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures and Dubai municipality rose to the task.
00:30:47An army of workers backed by vehicles and drones moved in to spray disinfectants in public areas.
00:30:52And when businesses reopened and social activities resumed in a phased manner, the municipality ensured that the premises and the people conformed to COVID safety protocols.
00:31:11Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Dubai municipality has provided all its human and financial resources and technologies in cooperation with all our partners in the government of Dubai.
00:32:00Today, we have reached about a million inspection visits. All of these visits are to monitor the practices and conduct and the cases that do not comply with the precautionary measures adopted by the government of Dubai.
00:32:21Swift and effective measures helped Dubai's economy rebound from the impact of COVID-19.
00:32:34Thousands of safety inspections helped manage the spread of the coronavirus since it was first reported.
00:32:42Once the immediate threat to public health was addressed, focus turned to the revival of businesses.
00:32:53Economic stimulus packages worth 7.1 billion dirhams were announced.
00:33:00When the pandemic started spreading in the region, Dubai realized from the beginning how important it is to maintain the people's health issues as well as maintaining and keeping healthy businesses going on.
00:33:19Dubai economy worked closely with the crisis management committee and the other government entities to set up the health prevention measures in business sectors as well as enhancing and enforcing these measures on the ground.
00:33:32Dubai economy conducted more than 170,000 safety precaution inspection visits that helped to manage the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
00:33:40We also managed during these visits to control the wave of price hiking which happened during the first wave of the virus and stabilize it in a very short period of time.
00:33:55Like elsewhere in the world, the fallout of the pandemic affected air travel to Dubai.
00:34:02But in the early days of the coronavirus, there were people waiting to go to their home countries and others hoping to come back.
00:34:16With international borders closed, the demand for air cargo increased as there was a need to transport essential goods.
00:34:25Cargo freighters from Dubai World Central were moved to Dubai International to make it easier to move essential goods.
00:34:38Dubai has been considered one of the highest PPE moving cities around the world, transporting the essential kits to the Indian subcontinent, Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States.
00:34:55The airport's cargo unit also had to contend with the spike in e-commerce demand. Air travel corridors were set up so flights could resume.
00:35:08In January, Dubai launched the Vaccine Logistics Alliance to speed up distribution of COVID-19 vaccines around the world through the emirate.
00:35:17Dubai airport facilitated thousands of repatriation flights from April to July 2020.
00:35:47Initially in opening up travel corridors with different countries, the early opening of Dubai to welcome tourism had helped the airport to recover quicker than anticipated.
00:36:01Dubai airport was one of the airports which implemented, I would say, a complete testing facility.
00:36:09We created a vaccination center at the airport. We were able to administer vaccines to around 100,000 airport employees.
00:36:19So our intention was to provide a safe environment at the airport so the travelers can feel safe, also our employees can feel safe, and this was our direction.
00:36:32Our staff are well trained for such situations, such emergencies, but the issue here was having this number of people stuck and nowhere to go.
00:36:39Our main objective at that time was the welfare of the passengers and the staff.
00:36:44The other challenge is that we went in very short of resources as all our outsource suppliers were seized and stopped.
00:36:54We had to take care and look after the welfare of staff and make sure that we had the minimum infection rate of staff, otherwise our operation would go into complete halt.
00:37:02Similarly to the passengers as well. People get frustrated. Imagine you're locked down in a room for 45 days.
00:37:08So that emotional and psychological support was provided by the team, creating these close bonds with the passengers.
00:37:16The bigger challenge was the measures that we applied over here, the social distancing, the spacing, our capacity was reduced to half.
00:37:24So these are the biggest challenges we face, how we managed all this.
00:37:29The demand for air cargo increased suddenly because there was a need obviously to move essential items and all of that.
00:37:39So what we've done as Dubai Airports is basically try to resupply that traffic and move some of those cargo that used to be on passenger aircraft to fully dedicated cargo aircraft.
00:37:56That was one of the first things we've done.
00:37:59The second was to make it easier for businesses. We relocated some of those freighters from Dubai World Central to DXB and makes it easier allowing for better connections of moving goods and essential items to a much needed destination.
00:38:21As airlines scrambled in the wake of COVID-19, Dubai's Emirates Airlines stayed ahead of the curve.
00:38:31It introduced measures on board to keep both cabin crew and passengers safe.
00:38:38Protective breathing equipment and sanitization kits gave an extra layer of cover and peace of mind during travel.
00:38:46On the ground, self check-in and bag drop kiosks were introduced at Dubai International Airport.
00:38:56During the height of the pandemic, Emirates rose to the challenge of bringing back people who were stranded in other countries and repatriating thousands of travelers stuck in the UAE.
00:39:08The airline also helped transport tons of essential commodities over a year and played a key role in ensuring that vaccines were delivered on time.
00:39:22When global trade lines were interrupted, Emirates hit upon a plan to use some of its passenger flights to carry cargo.
00:39:30What started as a one-destination flight soon grew in number till almost 90 passenger flights began flying to about 120 destinations carrying cargo.
00:39:43Emirates Sky Cargo set up a dedicated airside hub in Dubai for distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and became the first airline in the world to do so.
00:39:55In April, it was reported that 1 out of every 20 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered around the world had transited through Dubai and had flown on an Emirates aircraft.
00:40:10The airline also launched a new COVID-19 vaccine program in the United States.
00:40:15In April, it was reported that 1 out of every 20 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered around the world had transited through Dubai and had flown on an Emirates aircraft.
00:40:28Emirates from the beginning was a pioneer in trying to introduce changes and discuss with the relevant authority protocols to stimulate business and to assure our passengers the confidence in travel.
00:40:45We were one of the early airlines who have introduced measures on board the aircraft in terms of hygiene, in terms of protective breathing equipment for our cabin crew, masks.
00:40:59We were one of the companies who provided sanitization kits to our passengers whenever they checked in.
00:41:08We were one of the companies who have introduced insurance or provided an insurance coverage for our passengers for COVID-19 whenever they travel in Emirates.
00:41:21As Dubai again was a pioneer and took the lead in reopening its airport to the world back in July, and as Emirates again built up its network gradually since then,
00:41:33we have seen the peak back in December, January, where the spike happened in the booking.
00:41:39Many people were in Dubai. Even from the tourist side, we have seen Dubai hitting almost half a million tourists in the month of December.
00:41:47Same thing happened in the month of January, so one million people in terms of the visitors came in these two months.
00:41:53I think we have seen the worst, and what will come in will be more positive and more towards the opening.
00:41:59Back in March, last year, when the airline had suspended the operation, of course, the suspension had come in almost like a sudden stop of all our operations.
00:42:12Therefore, for us, it was absolutely essential seeing the cargo demand continue to flow.
00:42:19It was a lot of essential commodity that needed to get to a lot of destinations, be it food or medical equipment.
00:42:26We were putting together the whole entire plan in terms of what is it that we need to do to be able to start operating some of our passenger flights as cargo.
00:42:38The challenges that we were faced with is that a lot of the vaccine had to move in very much sub-zero temperature to be able to move it from one destination to another.
00:42:49With that kind of complexity, it was absolutely essential for us to really understand what would it take to ensure that we move these essential commodities like the vaccine, which is so important.
00:43:02It needs to move safely. It needs to reach the final destination on time.
00:43:06We immediately embarked on a solution of creating almost our DWC facility.
00:43:12We have activated that, and we have created a hub for the vaccine in Dubai.
00:43:19At the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai, work never stopped.
00:43:29As international borders closed and people were forced to stay indoors, the Nodal Authority for Expat and Citizens' Travel Issues sprang into action.
00:43:39A remote working system was put in place early, thanks mainly due to preparations for emergency situations like this that began many years ago.
00:43:52Passport control officers were among the first to begin using masks, and protective measures were taken at the airport.
00:43:59Staffing at AMR call centers was strengthened to answer queries around the clock.
00:44:29The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the challenges facing our society.
00:44:36We had a major issue, which was the renewal of residences.
00:44:40We already had a remote residence renewal, and this was a pre-COVID race.
00:44:48When COVID-19 hit, nothing changed for us.
00:44:51Companies were present and were submitting their applications remotely.
00:44:56We have about 30 call centers.
00:45:03We developed the center and turned it into 100 call centers.
00:45:08We turned the call center into a place for everyone, whether they were at home or outside.
00:45:15Our work was to create a special team from the Nodal Authority for Expat and Citizens' Travel Issues.
00:45:25We put in place a strategic plan to ensure the continuity of the movement at the airport, despite the pandemic.
00:45:31We continued to serve passengers by taking preventive measures.
00:45:36It is normal for me to be in charge of the passport service to receive passengers and complete their procedures.
00:45:41Despite the pandemic and its difficulties, we welcomed passengers with a smile and assured them that the situation was good and that Dubai was welcoming them.
00:45:49Despite all these challenges, we welcomed them with a smile.
00:45:56Street patrol officers faced novel challenges, but Dubai police managed to maintain a balance between the usual responsibilities and protecting the health of residents.
00:46:10There was the constant risk of contracting an infection, but this did not keep officers from doing their job.
00:46:20Police patrolled the roads at the borders and in markets.
00:46:23Drones were used and thermal helmets were worn by officers to monitor the temperature of people using public transport.
00:46:34Dubai Police is the main government agency in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
00:46:42It played a major role in coordinating with foreign partners from all government departments in Dubai.
00:46:51In Dubai, we were forced to stay at home.
00:46:56At the time of lockdowns in the UAE and the rest of the world, there was a complete lockdown.
00:47:05We had patrol cars on the roads, checkpoints on the border areas outside Dubai.
00:47:12We had patrol cars on the roads, checkpoints on the border areas outside Dubai.
00:47:21The Naif area faced a unique challenge, one that warranted a unique response.
00:47:29When there were reports of several cases of COVID-19 in the area, restrictions were imposed.
00:47:37The police embarked on a mission to reassure the residents in the area, send the affected for treatment and ensure that food and essential supplies kept flowing in.
00:47:50When the restrictions were lifted after 28 days, there were celebrations all around.
00:48:00The challenge was that we received a lot of information about the spread of the pandemic in the Naif and Ras area.
00:48:09At that time, we had to intervene quickly to contain the spread of the disease.
00:48:15We were able to study the situation and put the numbers on the ground.
00:48:21We made a decision to completely close the area to contain the virus.
00:48:28The period of lockdown was less than a month, 28 days.
00:48:31At the beginning of the first two weeks, the number of cases in the area was increasing.
00:48:40Until the second week, the number was decreasing.
00:48:44Then, we followed the guidelines.
00:48:47Thank God, the number of cases began to decrease.
00:48:52When we reached the last three days before the opening of the area, the number was zero.
00:49:02Dubai's firefighters and civil defence personnel found that their state of high alert was an advantage during the pandemic.
00:49:14Trained to deal with fires and accidents every day, the civil defence team responded immediately with courage and determination.
00:49:23In the early days of the coronavirus infection, fire engines were modified to disinfect the city.
00:49:31Awareness was raised among workers and personnel worked round the clock to bring life back to normal.
00:49:38During the COVID-19 pandemic, our state proved its ability to contain the pandemic
00:49:44thanks to the vision, support and follow-up of our wise leadership for our efforts to defend ourselves.
00:49:50The civil defence teams in Dubai, during the COVID-19 pandemic,
00:49:57disinfected more than 90% of the areas of Dubai in cooperation with the government.
00:50:02They also secured field hospitals and testing camps for the coronavirus pandemic.
00:50:08They also carried out an awareness campaign to prevent the pandemic by the civil defence teams
00:50:15in the workers' residential areas, which benefited 170,000 workers in 490 residential areas in Dubai.
00:50:24Between March and June 2020, Dubai government departments began working from outside the office
00:50:31as part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
00:50:37The remote work plan was made possible by the sophisticated telecommunications system
00:50:43that was developed in Dubai.
00:50:47The remote work plan was made possible by the sophisticated telecommunications infrastructure in the city
00:50:55and was a resounding success.
00:50:58The role of the human resources department during the pandemic was a key role.
00:51:03During the pandemic, these departments needed to be clear in terms of the measures
00:51:09and precautions that must be taken to maintain health and safety for the workers
00:51:16and to protect them from the spread of COVID-19.
00:51:20Fortunately, the government of Dubai was ready for this challenge.
00:51:25The infrastructure and the basic structure that it was built on during the past decades
00:51:33in the different electronic systems that help employees perform their work
00:51:37was ready to provide this service to this employee and to work from home.
00:51:45We found remote meetings today, we found remote treatment.
00:51:49Even the employee did not change much.
00:51:55We reached approximately more than 87% of the services were done normally.
00:52:01For an emirate depending on imports for more than 90% of its food supplies,
00:52:08COVID-19 could have posed a major threat to food security.
00:52:13But Dubai turned adversity into opportunity.
00:52:19Food imports were increased in 2020, ensuring there was no shortage in the city
00:52:26and people did not have to resort to panic buying.
00:52:30The Dubai Food Security Committee developed emergency management plans
00:52:36and reached out to the community to improve knowledge around food security.
00:52:41The strategy and proactive measures helped Dubai coast through the pandemic
00:52:49and ensured that supermarket shelves remained stacked and there was sufficient food to go around.
00:52:55The Dubai government during the pandemic, they established a team at the level of the Dubai government
00:53:03and this team was from all governmental entities and the private sectors in Dubai.
00:53:12From Dubai municipality, Dubai customs, Dubai police, from the ministry of economics
00:53:18and even from the private sectors, they cooperated with us in this team.
00:53:24And this team started to evaluate the amount of the food that is produced internally in UAE and Dubai especially
00:53:33and also the importation, the quantity of imported food.
00:53:37So we started to evaluate the quantity and we were monitoring the amount of the food that came to Dubai
00:53:44and even from the country of source, we started to communicate with the country of the source
00:53:50and to see the amount of the food that is going to be produced and sent to Dubai.
00:53:56At the same time, we started to see the alternative solutions, especially in Dubai, depending on the imported food.
00:54:04So we selected 23 food items to be as the main food item
00:54:09and to make sure that these food items are available in Dubai.
00:54:20Outdoor sport and games were a casualty of COVID-19,
00:54:24but it allowed the Dubai Sports Council to rise to the challenge and think afresh.
00:54:32One of the solutions was to create more activities for the community online
00:54:36like the Be Fit, Be Safe initiative.
00:54:39Some could be done at home and some on a bike.
00:54:44Although a few events had to be postponed, the sporting scene sprang back into action soon.
00:54:53What followed was a series of international events, including the two-month-long Indian Premier League cricket.
00:55:06The government has given us a space to make a solution.
00:55:10And what is the solution?
00:55:12The solution is to make more activity for the community in a virtual system,
00:55:18which most of them are very happy to be active again in-house or in their community.
00:55:26We came up with a proposal, which is a program called Be Fit and Be Safe,
00:55:31which is a program that works worldwide and everyone is very happy with it.
00:55:37So we keep the community and all of them busy with that.
00:55:41We react according to what we have in our hand and can work and can be safe.
00:55:47We make different programs for all of them and everyone was satisfied with that.
00:55:52We have a lot of activity. We are not looking down completely on our activity.
00:55:58We organized a beach festival with different games, keeping in mind no spectators.
00:56:06Highest precautions were taken to ensure the safety of all the players.
00:56:14And we also organized a snow run, which was one of its kind, a snow run in the middle of the desert.
00:56:23We ended the year with the most prestigious conference and the award,
00:56:30which is Dubai International Sports Conference.
00:56:34The first country and a city to organize a physical prestigious conference.
00:56:44So big names, big stars, decision makers were all in one place.
00:56:52When a health care facility for women and children opened its doors to men for the first time in its history, questions were not asked.
00:57:05Rather, staff at Latifa Hospital ensured that COVID-19 cases were managed well and patients were sent on the road to recovery.
00:57:17Most of the staff here in Latifa Hospital are women, more than 85%.
00:57:25Obviously, because we have women, we cater for women and children, so the majority of staff are actually female.
00:57:31For the first time, actually, in the history of Latifa Hospital, we started taking men to our hospital because they needed bed.
00:57:43We took care of them. I have an amazing team who was willing to do whatever it needed to take care of patients, men, women or children.
00:57:59When it comes to vaccinations, the UAE is head and shoulders above most other countries.
00:58:05The Dubai Health Authority achieved this by training health care workers and by using a proactive multi-pronged strategy.
00:58:15With several vaccination centers open, people were able to access the one nearest to their home.
00:58:22Home vaccination services were available for people of determination, Emiratis above 50 years and expatriates above the age of 60.
00:58:33As we all know, we have started a vaccination campaign in Dubai Health Authority and Dubai Emirates.
00:58:41It was last week of December, 23rd of December 2020.
00:58:46We had several phases for the vaccination.
00:58:50It's very important to understand how the vaccination committee works.
00:58:55We have many teams under the vaccination committee.
00:58:59We have the scientific team which takes care of all the scientific issues related to the vaccination.
00:59:07We are keeping ourselves updated with the latest studies, practices, data which comes out from the international bodies that are responsible to issue all the updates about the vaccination.
00:59:21Based on these studies and researches and based on our scientific team feedback, we take our decisions in the vaccination.
00:59:36More than a year after COVID struck, Dubai is looking forward today to Export 2020 and to the future that lies ahead.
00:59:45Indeed, the best is yet to come.
00:59:51People have started travelling again, the restaurants are full and the malls are bustling.
00:59:57Children run around in parks and have started going back to school.
01:00:01The smile has returned to the faces of the people.
01:00:06By being responsible, the community has played a big role in Dubai's return to normality.
01:00:14There were hurdles that were crossed to get here, challenges that were squarely met.
01:00:20But together, as one city, as one people, the spirit of Dubai has won.