Registering International vaccinations or exemption documents

In order to support seamless entry for international travellers and enable visitors to safely enjoy the the UAE capital’s diverse experiences through the Abu Dhabi Green Pass, DCT Abu Dhabi has outlined a simple process to enable tourists to register their international vaccination certificate or vaccination exemption document for verification 5 days before their travel date, via the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) Smart app or via ica.gov.ae website. 

Applicants will receive an SMS confirmation that will include a link to the Alhosn app, which must be downloaded prior to travel. The Alhosn app displays users’ vaccination status and PCR test results, which are required to activate the Abu Dhabi Green Pass.

Upon arrival, travellers will receive a Unified ID number, from airport immigration, or via the ICA Smart app or website; this will complete the registration on the Alhosn app. Following a PCR test at the airport, visitors can activate the Green Pass, allowing them entry to all public spaces in the emirate. 

Children under 12 and People of Determination (POD) with moderate and severe disabilities are exempt from COVID-19 PCR testing. 

Entry for vaccinated travellers from Green List countries

Under the new guidelines, vaccinated travellers from all over the world, arriving from green list will be required to show a negative PCR test taken a maximum of 48 hours before departure and take a PCR test at the airport on arrival. They will not need to quarantine but will be required to take one more PCR test on day 6 (Counting the day of arrival as day 1). Their hotel will arranged testing on the premises, for their convenience.

Entry for vaccinated travellers from all countries (outside green list)

Under the new guidelines, vaccinated travellers from all over the world , arriving from countries not on the green list, will be required to show a negative PCR test taken a maximum of 48 hours before departure and take a PCR test at the airport on arrival. They will not need to quarantine but will be required to take one more PCR test on day 4 and day 8 (Counting the day of arrival as day 1). Their hotel will arranged testing on the premises, for their convenience.

Entry for unvaccinated travellers from Green List countries

Unvaccinated travellers arriving from ‘Green List’ countries will also be exempt from quarantine measures. They will be required to show a negative PCR test taken a maximum of 48 hours before departure, and take a PCR test on arrival. They will also need to take a PCR test on day 6 (counting the day of arrival as day 1) and another PCR test on day 9. 

Entry for unvaccinated travellers from all countries (outside green list)

Unvaccinated travellers arriving from countries not on the Green List will be required to show a negative PCR test taken a maximum of 48 hours before departure and take a PCR test on arrival. They will be required to quarantine for 10 days at home or in a hotel (counting the day of arrival as day 1). They then must take a PCR test on day 9; if negative, visitors can end their quarantine on day 10.

Entry to public places to all tourists and residents: 

To further protect community members and travellers in the emirate, Abu Dhabi implemented a ‘Green Pass’ protocol on August 20, enabling only those that are fully vaccinated, officially exempted or under 16 years of age to access key public places and attractions.

To maintain ‘green’ status on Alhosn app, fully vaccinated individuals must show a negative PCR test result taken within the last 30 days,  officially exempted individuals a negative PCR test result taken within the last 7 days. Children under 16 years of age automatically receive ‘green’ status without the need to test. 

The Alhosn app will recognise and automatically synchronise the tourists’ international vaccination or exemption certifications that are uploaded on the ICA App or website, as part of the registration process. In the case of any technical issues with Alhosn app, Abu Dhabi attractions will accept tourists’ vaccination certificate from their home country app or official report, as well as the negative PCR result from the airport test via SMS. 

More information on the Green Pass can be found at http://VisitAbuDhabi.ae, ica.gov.ae and alhosnapp.ae. 

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Researchers discovered that patients are more than two-and-a-half times more likely to die after their operations, if the procedure takes places in the six weeks following a positive diagnosis for SARS-CoV-2.

Led by experts at the University of Birmingham, more than 25,000 surgeons worked together as part of the COVIDSurg Collaborative to collect data from 140,727 patients in 1,674 hospitals across 116 countries including Australia, Brazil, China, India, the UAE, UK and USA – creating one of the world’s largest and broadest studies on surgery.

Publishing their findings in Anaesthesia, the researchers discovered that patients operated 0-6 weeks after SARS-CoV-2 infection diagnosis were at increased risk of postoperative death, as were patients with ongoing symptoms at the time of surgery.

Co-lead author Dr Dmitri Nepogodiev, from the University of Birmingham, commented: “We recommend that whenever possible surgery should be delayed for at least seven weeks after a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result, or until symptoms resolve if patients have ongoing symptoms for 7 weeks or more after diagnosis.”

Co-lead author Mr Aneel Bhangu, from the University of Birmingham, added: “Decisions regarding delaying surgery should be tailored for each patient, since the possible advantages of a minimum seven-week delay following SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis must be balanced against the potential risks of delay. For some urgent surgeries, for example for advanced tumours, surgeons and patients may decide that the risks of delay are not justified.” 

While it is known that infection with SARS-CoV-2 during surgery increases mortality and international guidelines recommend surgery should be delayed for patients testing positive for COVID-19, there is little evidence regarding the optimal duration of delay.

Participating hospitals included all patients undergoing a surgical procedure in October 2020. Patients who became infected with SARS-CoV-2 after their surgery were excluded from the study. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative death. 

Statistical modelling was used to adjust for patient, disease, and operation variables and calculate adjusted 30-day mortality rates for different time periods from SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis to surgery.

Time to surgery from SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis was 0-2 weeks in 1,144 (0.8%), 3-4 weeks in 461 (0.3%), 5-6 weeks in 327 (0.2%), 7 weeks or more in 1,205 (0.9%), and 137,590 (97.8%) did not have SARS-CoV-2 infection. Adjusted 30-day mortality in patients who did not have SARS-CoV-2 infection was 1.5%. This was increased in patients operated at 0-2 weeks (4.0%), 3-4 weeks (4.0%), and at 5-6 weeks (3.6%), but not at 7-8 weeks (1.5%) after SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis. 

These findings were consistent across age groups, differing severity of the patient’s condition, urgency of surgery, and grade of surgery and in sensitivity analyses for elective surgery. Following a delay of seven weeks or more, patients with ongoing COVID-19 symptoms (6.0%) had higher mortality than patients whose symptoms had resolved (2.4%) or who had been asymptomatic (1.3%).

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23 February 2021, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has issued the updated list of ‘Green List’ destinations. Passengers arriving from these destinations will be exempt from mandatory quarantine measures after landing in Abu Dhabi and will only be required to undergo PCR testing upon arrival at Abu Dhabi Airport.

Countries, regions, and territories included within the ‘Green List’ will be regularly updated based on international development. Inclusion in the list is subject to strict criteria of health and safety to ensure the well-being of the UAE community. The list also only applies to countries passengers are arriving from rather than citizenship.

Please note below the updated ‘Green List’ as of 23 February 2021:

• Australia
• Bhutan
• Brunei
• China
• Greenland
• Hong Kong (SAR)
• Iceland
• Mauritius
• New Zealand
• Singapore

More information on the ‘Green List’ can be found on www.visitabudhabi.com. DCT Abu Dhabi will also continue to issue updates on the list and overall travel status in the coming months.

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Dr Simon is a Critical Care Consultant and Head of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Mediclinic Al Ain Hospital, a position he has held since 2015. The 48-year-old Hungarian is one of thousands of frontline professionals who have been recognised and supported by the Frontline Heroes Office for taking exceptional measures to protect people’s wellbeing during the pandemic. 

Even with his extensive experience treating critical-care patients, the scale and rapid spread of COVID-19 came as a shock.

“This was something brand new and completely unprecedented,” he said. “When COVID-19 swept across the world in early 2020, it was a biological catastrophe. In the medical profession, we could only react to the virus as it happened. We didn’t have a specific drug or approach; we didn’t have a ventilation strategy or other necessary procedures.” 

Dr Simon rapidly developed and fine-tuned a strategy for treating the increasing number of patients admitted to ICU, as well as sharing his experience with medical colleagues around the world. He praises the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH) for its continuing guidance and support. 

In the early stages of the pandemic, Al Ain’s COVID-19 patients were treated at government hospitals. But as cases grew, teams including Dr Simon’s were asked to provide support. In April 2020, he extended his ICU unit, adding 12 beds and dedicating almost all his staff to COVID-19 patient care.

“We were working around the clock and it was a case of all hands-on deck to help these patients who were desperately ill,” he said. “We were able to accurately assess the patient flow, but there was no such thing as a typical patient. They were all ages and nationalities and the virus affected everyone differently.

“I would see senior women in their nineties pass through easily while some younger men in their thirties were close to death. There was one man on a ventilator for three months with a tracheostomy who luckily survived. Of course, I was exhausted, but the experience of helping patients and seeing the success stories, bringing patients off the ventilator, pulling out the tube and sending them home kept me going.”

Then, in May 2020, Dr Simon’s life turned on its head as he went from doctor to patient, an experience he described as terrifying.

“It was a typical picture of COVID-19: I had opacity on my lungs, meaning that the virus had begun destroying a part of my lung tissue and I was feverish and exhausted,” he said.

“Honestly, I was terrified because it progressed so quickly. The weakness I felt was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I couldn’t even move two metres to the bathroom. But I still sat up in bed and took part in conference calls when I felt stronger. 

“I didn’t see my teenage children or my wife, who is an anaesthetist. They would only call me on the phone. It was claustrophobic being in that small space and I felt cut off from everyone. It was a strange time for me, being the patient.”

Dr Simon made a full recovery and after a two-week period of home quarantine returned to work. He said that contracting the virus made him even more empathetic in his job.

“When I spoke to patients, I knew what they were going through,” he said. “Recovering also helped me deal with their families emotionally, which was one of the toughest parts. COVID-19 patients were not allowed any visitors so we were responsible for meeting the families every day to report on their loved ones. If a patient’s condition was worsening, that was particularly hard to do. Once I could tell them that I myself had recovered, it made things much easier.”

During June last year, it was announced by the DOH that Mediclinic Al Ain Hospital was free of COVID-19 cases for the time being, allowing Dr Simon to reflect upon what had happened during the previous few months. 

“I would say the most important lesson for humanity to take from this crisis is to take responsibility for their own bodies,” he said. “If you don’t look after your own health, then who will? COVID-19 affected my entire life both personally and professionally. I was caught right in the middle and I will never forget this period, nor do I want to.”

The Frontline Heroes Office seeks to strengthen community support and show appreciation for frontline professionals including Dr Simon who continue to sacrifice their own wellbeing to keep the nation safe.

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“Surpassing the one million vaccine doses administered to the public in a record time is yet another testament to the community’s trust in the efficiency and effectiveness of the measures taken by the UAE government,” the ministry said in a statement on the same day that a record number of daily coronavirus cases was recorded.

Dr Hussein Abdul Rahman Al Rand, Assistant Undersecretary of Health Centres and Clinics Sector, and chairman of the National Committee for the Implementation of the Provisions of International Health Regulations and Prevention of Pandemics, said that the ministry is currently working to increase the capacity in government and private health facilities and to add more facilities without giving further details.

The UAE on Wednesday recorded its highest number of daily coronavirus cases for the second successive day, just 24 hours after Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum hailed efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

MoHAP announced another 3,362 new cases after conducting 134,768 additional Covid-19 tests over the past 24 hours.

MoHAP said the total number of recorded cases in the UAE has risen to 239,587, adding that a further six deaths had been recorded, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 723.

The ministry also noted that an additional 2,588 individuals had fully recovered from Covid-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 213,149.

The latest figures come a day after Sheikh Mohammed said the UAE has the world›s second best vaccination rate in the world and had “made significant steps in controlling the Covid-19 spread”. He also urged everyone to get vaccinated.

The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) also lauded the country’s healthcare sector for reducing the spread of the virus through contact tracing, early detection and quarantine procedures in a briefing on Tuesday.

Earlier this week, the UAE said it had exceeded one million coronavirus vaccinations, with NCEMA adding that it aimed to reach more than 50 percent of the country›s population during the first quarter of this year.

The number reached 1,275,652 as of Tuesday, representing over 12 percent of the population.

On Monday night, the UK Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, announced the immediate removal of the UAE from the travel corridor list, meaning anyone arriving from the UAE will need to self-isolate for 10 days.

This comes in after a spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the UAE following the holiday period.

Article: Arabian Business

Image: Gulf Business

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