Some UAE pupils yet to obtain negative PCR results can start school a day late

Announcement was made as testing centres across the Emirates experience high volumes of traffic

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  Perla Mansour, 4, takes a saliva test before the start of the new school term. All photos: Victor Besa / The National

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  Mohammed Al Suwaidi gets a swab test in Abu Dhabi as part of the new back-to-school rules.

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  Many parents have taken their children to Biogenix Labs in Masdar City to take PCR or saliva tests.

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  The Mansour family from Egypt attended a clinic in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday to get their oldest child tested for Covid-19 before returning to school next week.

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  Health workers keep the mood cheery for young pupils getting tested.

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  Special queues have been sectioned off at clinics across Abu Dhabi for school pupils who need to get tested.

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  Khalifa Al Nahdi, 4, queues for a test.

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  Pupils will need to show a negative nasal PCR or saliva test result taken within 96 hours before they can return to in-person classes next week.

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  Health workers hold up some of the many samples taken from school pupils.

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  A young Abu Dhabi resident gives a saliva sample.

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  Mohammed Al Bisher, 6, takes a saliva test.

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  More than a million pupils will return to school in the UAE after the summer break.

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  Bumper-to-bumper traffic outside Biogenix Labs in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi.

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  Parents take their children to Biogenix Labs in Masdar City to take PCR tests.

Some school pupils in the UAE who have been unable to obtain negative PCR results in time for Sunday can return to school a day late, the UAE’s public schools regulator has announced.

On Friday, the Emirates Schools Establishment sent out a notice advising parents not to send their children to school without the required negative results.

The announcement was made as testing centres across the Emirates experienced high volumes of traffic ahead of the back-to-school rush.

“Due to the high traffic at Covid-19 testing centres, and coinciding with the start of the academic year on Sunday August 29, the Emirates Schools Establishment announces to its students, who may not be able to obtain a negative PCR test result to return to school on Sunday, that they are allowed to return to school on Monday August 30, provided that they have a negative PCR test result," the Emirates Schools Establishment said on Twitter.

As per the new return to classroom rules across the country, pupils of all ages in some emirates, including Abu Dhabi and Ajman, must present PCR tests to their school ahead of the first day of term. Tests must be taken no more than 96 hours before entering the campus.

In Abu Dhabi, the rule applies to both vaccinated and unvaccinated pupils. Tests will have to be retaken every 14 days in the first month of term.

In Dubai and Sharjah, the cities' dedicated education regulators said no pupils are required to be vaccinated to return to school and regular testing is not mandatory.