Coronavirus: Maids and domestic workers advised against meeting friends outside home

Health authorities asked families to limit interaction between people where possible

A nurse rests in a ward at an emergency Covid-19 centre set up in New Delhi, India. Bloomberg

A nurse from the Critical Patients Unit takes a break at Barros Luco Hospital, in Santiago, Chile. AFP

The tracing smartphone app SwissCovid created by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne has recently been launched. AFP

A stewardess takes the body temperature of a man before boarding a plane at Paris-Orly Airport, France. Reuters

Labourers from Beximco Textiles Ltd work on Personal Protective Equipment in Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. AFP

Diana Paola Angola who recovered of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, caress her son Jefferson at the neonatal room in the Versalles Clinic, in Cali, Colombia. AFP

View of a patient infected with COVID-19 at Barros Luco Hospital, in Santiago. An increasing COVID-19 death toll is leaving the Chilean healthcare system on the blink of collapse. AFP

Health officials wearing protective gear take a nasal swab sample from a young boy in Karachi. AFP

Sri Lankan health workers wearing protective equipment perform COVID-19 blood tests in Colombo. EPA

A woman has her temperature checked by a hotel worker in Tokyo, Japan. Reuters

A medical professional administers a test to a member of the public at a pop-up coronavirus testing facility in Melbourne, Australia. Reuters

A worker in protective gear sprays disinfectant at Paris-Orly Airport on its re-opening. Reuters

The government has urged families to ask their maids and household helpers to avoid meeting friends outside of the home this Eid Al Adha.

The advisory came as officials warned of enforcing fines on people who did not observe physical distancing during the festival, with visits limited to first and second-degree relatives, everyone required to wear face masks and keep a distance of two metres.

Dr Omar Al Hammadi, spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Prevention, said at a briefing on Monday night that it was important “to make sure that domestic workers do not meet with people from outside the home.”

He also asked people to wear masks and gloves when handling deliveries and to wipe packaging down.

Officials have repeatedly reminded citizens and residents in the lead up to the Eid celebrations to maintain safe distances as reducing the risk of transmission was a “national duty and obligation.”

The advisory is an extension of guidance to all families to limit interaction in order to keep the number of coronavirus cases low.

The ministry tweeted information for people who tested positive for the virus but did not show symptoms to isolate themselves for 14 days.

The isolation period should begin when the test results are received, the ministry said.

People who experience mild symptoms, such as a fever or cough, are also required to isolate themselves for two weeks beginning from the onset of any symptoms.

Their fever should have subsided for at least three consecutive days without the aid of any medication before they come out of isolation, the ministry said.

There are 59,177 coronavirus cases in the UAE with 264 new cases identified on Monday after 47,299 tests conducted.