The coronavirus pandemic has kept nearly half of all of humanity indoors, while essential workers continue to go outside to keep society on its feet. Among them are healthcare workers tending to patients. While medical staff have been praised for their life-saving efforts, the work of other professionals who are just as vital to our pandemic-struck societies has been overlooked.
Blue-collar workers, including labourers working on construction sites, grocery clerks, security and cleaning personnel, food delivery drivers and many more deserve a great deal of attention and care as the pandemic continues.
Their contributions to society and the economy are invaluable. In some countries, they are foreigners who seek better employment and income to care for their families, as is the case in parts of the Arab world. Here in the UAE, they are an integral part of our society. They have built Dubai’s world-famous skyscrapers, contributing in turning the city from a modest port in the vast Arabian desert into a glamourous, cosmopolitan financial hub. They have also constructed Abu Dhabi and Sharjah’s most iconic sites. Now that the pandemic has struck all sections of society and as we witness economic pressures around the world, these workers are also getting protection from its impacts. The UAE government has put in place important measures to try to shield the most vulnerable from this virus. Regardless of their nationality, people in need can apply for a stipend from the UAE government to support their families.
UAE-based charities are doing a spectacular job at helping low-income workers who have been laid off or whose salaries have been cut.
Foreign workers who have tested positive to the novel coronavirus at a testing centre in Dubai are transported to a specialised centre for isolation and treatment. AFP
In addition to financial help, authorities have launched a mass-testing programme aimed specifically at low-income workers. In Ras Al Khaimah, authorities aim to carry out 20,000 tests on labourers by next month. In Abu Dhabi’s industrial district, 10,000 labourers are tested every day without charge. Food rations, water and juice are distributed to those waiting for hours in long queues. Those who test positive for the coronavirus are treated for free, and if other underlying conditions are discovered during the screenings, they are referred for treatment. In fact, anyone who contracts the virus in the UAE receives free treatment, and the government has also announced that it will look after the families of those who die from Covid-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, regardless of nationality or social status.
Other Gulf nations have taken similar action to support their most vulnerable workers. Labourer accommodation sites are being sterilised, and many of their occupants rehoused in larger accommodation units where they can more easily self-isolate. The UAE and Saudi Arabia provide free testing and treatment even for people who are residing in these countries without clear legal status.
Blue-collar workers deserve a great deal of attention and care as the pandemic continues
Other residents of the UAE also have a role to play in providing relief and recognition to low-income workers. Thanking the cashier at one’s local supermarket or giving a hefty tip to food delivery drivers can go a long way in showing the most valuable and the most vulnerable workers that society is grateful for their work.
More than 8,000 UAE residents and citizens have thus far volunteered to help stop the pandemic and to provide relief for those who are quarantined or in need.
Proactive and preventative measures are crucial to keeping the most vulnerable members of society safe and healthy, and so is moral support and recognition from wider society. People who have contributed to the UAE’s success story deserve every possible support, both material and moral.
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
Stage result
1. Pascal Ackermann (GER) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 3:29.09
2. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto-Soudal
3. Rudy Barbier (FRA) Israel Start-Up Nation
4. Dylan Groenewegen (NED) Jumbo-Visma
5. Luka Mezgec (SLO) Mitchelton-Scott
6. Alberto Dainese (ITA) Sunweb
7. Jakub Mareczko (ITA) CCC
8. Max Walscheid (GER) NTT
9. José Rojas (ESP) Movistar
10. Andrea Vendrame (ITA) Ag2r La Mondiale, all at same time
Schedule:
All matches at the Harare Sports Club
1st ODI, Wed Apr 10
2nd ODI, Fri Apr 12
3rd ODI, Sun Apr 14
4th ODI, Sun Apr 16
UAE squad
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Zimbabwe squad
Peter Moor (captain), Solomon Mire, Brian Chari, Regis Chakabva, Sean Williams, Timycen Maruma, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Craig Ervine, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Tony Munyonga, Elton Chigumbura
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
if you go
Getting there
Etihad (Etihad.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Air France (www.airfrance.com) fly to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. Return flights cost from around Dh3,785. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Paris to Compiègne by train, with return tickets costing €19. The Glade of the Armistice is 6.6km east of the railway station.
Staying there
On a handsome, tree-lined street near the Chateau’s park, La Parenthèse du Rond Royal (laparenthesedurondroyal.com) offers spacious b&b accommodation with thoughtful design touches. Lots of natural woods, old fashioned travelling trunks as decoration and multi-nozzle showers are part of the look, while there are free bikes for those who want to cycle to the glade. Prices start at €120 a night.
Online grocer Ocado revealed retail sales fell 5.7 per cen in its first quarter as customers switched back to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.
It was a tough comparison from a year earlier, when the UK was in lockdown, but on a two-year basis its retail division, a joint venture with Marks&Spencer, rose 31.7 per cent over the quarter.
The group added that a 15 per cent drop in customer basket size offset an 11.6. per cent rise in the number of customer transactions.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
