UAE tops chart as most Covid-resilient country as Omicron variant hits

Coinciding with winter, the emergence of the new strain of coronavirus will cause concern for recovering economies

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The UAE topped the latest Covid-19 global resilience ranking, with Finland and Chile also among the leaders.

The Emirates placed first in the Bloomberg News chart, with high vaccination rates and increased air travel among the key factors.

Ireland, Spain and Turkey were among the other top nations noted for their handling of the pandemic, although Ireland fell three places to fourth after cases surged to 2,418 per 100,000 in the past month.

The Bloomberg Covid Resilience Ranking moved the Emirates up from third place last month to No 1.

The UAE has been a consistently high-performing country thanks to an organised and thorough vaccination drive and stringent precautionary measures.

Cases in the UAE have stayed below 100 a day for the past month and there have been only three deaths from the virus in the last ten days. More than 90 per cent of the country is fully vaccinated, and 100 per cent of eligible people have had at least one dose.

The country is currently enjoying its winter, further limiting the spread of the virus as people spend more time outdoors.

Some European countries are facing a difficult winter ahead as cold nights bring people indoors, and restrictions are beginning to be reimposed.

Austria, which recently announced a lockdown and mandatory vaccinations, dropped 31 places.

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Updated: December 01, 2021, 3:32 AM