After opening itself to New Year revellers, Dubai is now being blamed by several countries for spreading the coronavirus abroad, as questions swirl about the city-states ability to handle record spikes in Covid-19 cases.
The government said the kingdom is doing all it can to handle the pandemic, though it has repeatedly declined to answer questions about its hospital capacity.
In a statement, the government said: After a year of managing the pandemic, we can confidently say the current situation is under control and we have our plans to surge any capacity in the health care system should a need rise.
However, Nasser al-Shaikh, Dubais former finance minister, offered a different assessment on Twitter, and asked authorities to take control of a spiralling caseload.
The leadership bases its decisions on recommendations from the team, the wrong recommendations which put human souls in danger and negatively affect our society, he wrote, adding that our economy requires accountability.
Dubai, known for its long-haul carrier Emirates, the worlds tallest building and its beaches and bars, became one of the first travel destinations to describe itself as open for business last July.
The move staunched the bleeding in its crucial tourism and property sectors after lockdowns and curfews had hit the economy.
Close
Dubai had promoted itself as the ideal pandemic holiday spot (AP)
Dubai had promoted itself as the ideal pandemic holiday spot (AP)
As tourism restarted, daily reported coronavirus case numbers slowly grew, but mostly remained stable through the autumn.
But then came New Years Eve a major draw for travellers from countries otherwise shut down over the virus who partied without face masks in bars and on yachts.
For the last 17 days, the United Arab Emirates as a whole has reported record daily coronavirus case numbers as queues at Dubai testing facilities grow.
In Israel, more than 900 travellers returning from Dubai have been infected with the coronavirus, according to the military, which conducts contact tracing.
It said the returnees created a chain of infections numbering more than 4,000 people.
Tens of thousands of Israelis had flocked to the UAE since the two countries normalised relations in September.
Close
Dubais tourism authorities announced an immediate halt to all live music and shows at hotels and restaurants (AP)
Dubais tourism authorities announced an immediate halt to all live music and shows at hotels and restaurants (AP)
Israeli health ministry expert Dr Sharon Alroy-Preis was quoted by Channel 13 TV as complaining in a call with other officials that a few weeks of travel had been more deadly than decades of no relations with the Arab nation.
Since late December, Israel has required those coming from the UAE to go into a two-week quarantine.
Israel later shut down its main international airport until through the end of the month over rising cases.
Denmark already discovered one traveller coming from Dubai who tested positive for the South African variant, the first such discovery there.
In the Philippines, health authorities say they discovered a British strain infecting a Filipino who made a business trip to Dubai on December 27. He returned to the Philippines on January 7 and tested positive.
Close
Countries including the UK, Denmark, Israel, the Philippines have linked coronavirus cases back to Dubai (AP)
Countries including the UK, Denmark, Israel, the Philippines have linked coronavirus cases back to Dubai (AP)
He had no exposure to a confirmed case prior to their departure to Dubai, the Philippines department of health said.
In the time since, Filipino authorities have discovered at least 16 other cases, including two coming from Lebanon.
As daily reported coronavirus cases near 4,000, Dubai has sacked the head of its government health agency without explanation.
It stopped live entertainment at bars, halted non-essential surgeries, limited wedding sizes and ordered gyms to increase space between those working out.
It also now requires coronavirus testing for all those flying into its airport.
The addition of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the UKs red list is likely to cause problems for celebrities currently abroad in Dubai.
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced that visitors from the country, along with Burundi and Rwanda, are being banned from entering the UK.
British and Irish nationals, and people with residence rights, will still be able to enter the country but must self-isolate for 10 days at home.
A number of celebrities and social media influencers have been sharing content, including photos, adverts and workout videos, from the UAE.
Celebrities who have uploaded photos which appear to show them in Dubai in recent weeks include The Only Way Is Essexs James Lock and Yazmin Oukhellou.
On Thursday, Lock shared a video to his Instagram Stories of an indoor ski slope.
Former Love Island contestants Gabby Allen and Georgia Harrison have both also posted from Dubai this month, with the latter writing in her Instagram bio: Living in Dubai.
The restrictions, which aim to stop the spread of the South African coronavirus variant, come into force from 1pm on Friday.
The UAE had pinned its hopes on mass vaccinations, with Abu Dhabi distributing a Chinese vaccine by Sinopharm and Dubai offering Pfizer-BioNTechs inoculation.
The UAE says it has given 2.8 million doses so far, ranking it among the top countries in the world.
Dr Santosh Kumar Sharma, the medical director of Dubais NMC Royal Hospital, told the AP the number of cases (is) ever-rising, with over half its beds occupied by coronavirus patients.
The World Health Organisation said that before the pandemic, the UAE had nearly 13,250 hospital beds for a country of more than nine million people.
It said Dubai and the UAEs northern emirates built field hospitals amid the pandemic with some 5,000 beds, with Abu Dhabi building more.
But Dubai closed its 3,000-bed field hospital in July the same day it reopened for tourism. Both Dubai and the UAEs health ministry now advertises for nurses on Instagram.
The sad thing is that great efforts have been made since January 2020 for us to come and undermine them with our own hands, former finance minister Mr al-Shaikh wrote.
What makes things worse is the lack of transparency.
PA Media
