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The UAE has made sweeping changes to its Covid-19 rules and restrictions, relaxing them two and a half years after it recorded its first positive case. Announced in a televised briefing on Monday by the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA), the revisions will come into effect countrywide from Wednesday, September 28.
One of the major restrictions to be lifted is the mask mandate, which now requires people to wear face masks only in places of worship, hospitals, and on public transport. Wearing masks in all indoor and closed places will no longer be mandatory.
Read on for all the other rules that have been loosened by the NCEMA.
• While the aviation sector will adopt precautionary measures in line with the national aviation protocol, it is up to the airlines to decide whether face masks will be mandatory or optional on airplanes. As for the pre-departure PCR test for vaccinated and unvaccinated people, it will be determined based on the requirements of their travel destinations.
• It is now optional for teachers and students to wear masks in school.
• The isolation period for Covid-19 positive cases has been reduced from 10 days to five days, or both home or institutional isolation.
• Those who have come in contact with positive cases will no longer need to quarantine and must take a PCR test only if they show any symptoms.
• The validity of the Al Hosn green pass for the vaccinated has been extended to 30 days from 14. This means Abu Dhabi residents will now be required to get tested once every 30 days to enter most indoor places.
• The number of daily Covid-19 cases, deaths, and recoveries will no longer be released by the NCEMA.
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