Dubai: The validity of the Green Pass on the UAE's official Alhosn app for COVID-19 registery has been reduced to 14 days from 30 days, the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) announced during a special UAE Government media briefing on Monday.
The move comes as a precautionary measure following the recent increase in the daily COVID-19 infection rate.
According to NCEMA, the decision will take effect on June 15 and will cover all employees in all sectors. However, employees working in the educational sector will have to adhere to the decision starting from June 20.
The Green Pass is required to enter government departments and a number of other venues and events in the UAE.
Stricter control
During Monday’s media briefing, NCEMA said that all stakeholders have been instructed to tighten control over green pass validity to ensure the health and safety of everyone.
Dr Taher Al Amri, the Official Spokesperson for NCEMA, said that the entire national system has been working, since the beginning of the health crisis, to monitor the epidemiological situation in the country and globally, and to follow up on all developments and indicators, adding that “over the past period, we have noticed a significant rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in several countries globally”.
Al Amri said: “This increase comes after the stability of the situation in the country for a period that was not short, thanks to the integration of national efforts and community cooperation.”
He went on to say: “Recently, we have seen some behaviours that have become a threat to society and public health. This is an indication of a negligence to implementing precautionary and preventive measures, which negatively affects the recovery efforts that all parties are working on.”
Dh3,000 fine
Al Amri urged the community to adhere to wearing face masks, saying: “We would like to recall that wearing face masks in closed places is mandatory and failing to do so is a violation. Violators will be punished by a fine of up to Dh3000, according to Public Prosecution Decision No. 38 for the year 2020.
“The lack of commitment to isolation rules was also noticed among a small group of people infected with COVID-19. This threatens the safety of society and causes the spread of the virus due to the lack of responsibility of people. We affirm that anyone who causes an outbreak of the virus will be held accountable legally by authorities,” the NCEMA spokesperson said.
He clarified that the UAE has witnessed a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, where it increased by more than 100 per cent in less than a week, and the rate of hospitalisations also increased.
