The UAE has delivered an impassioned rallying cry to the nation to stand together in solidarity and trust in its efforts to tackle the spread of coronavirus.
In a video message released by government, Emiratis and expats alike are hailed for their response to the challenges being posed by the pandemic.
Residents are told that the Emirates will emerge from the public health crisis stronger than before.
Members of the public are thanked for supporting the government's strict stay-home measures aimed at slowing the spread of the disease and easing the strain on medical services.
In a statement released by the Prime Minister's Office alongside the video, members of the public are urged to throw their support behind the nation.
"We stand here in solidarity in the country we call home. In the leadership we unequivocally trust. In the nation that has given us new beginnings. This is the country where we have built our dreams. Our hopes. Our life. This is the place we belong. This is where we feel safe," the statement says.
"At a time when the world is facing the biggest challenge in many generations, the UAE has been strong and authoritative in its bid to protect all its citizens. UAE residents have followed each new directive in recent weeks for one principal reason – trust. It’s the same trust that has helped the country grow into a global force.
"It’s the same trust that has put UAE on the world map. It’s the same trust that instils pride in all of us to be part of this great nation."
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Sanitation workers from Tadweer on the first day of the UAE cleaning campaign. Victor Besa / The National -
A commuter enters the new sterilisation area at the entrance of the Abu Dhabi Central Bus Terminal.Victor Besa / The National -
A woman and her children seen during cloudy skies in Al Furjan area in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National -
A man wearing a protective face mask crosses the foot bridge near Al Karama area in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National -
A man seen during the evening in Al Furjan area in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National -
A delivery driver wearing a face mask at downtown Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National -
The view of the Burj Khalifa without any visitors in Downtown Dubai in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National -
Boki Prekovic plays each afternoon from his balcony to keep residents stuck at home entertained. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Two men on a boat wear face masks on Dubai Creek. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
A worker wearing a protective suit disinfects a globe in a public garden, in Algiers. Reuters -
Muslim worshippers circumambulate the sacred Kaaba in Makkah's Grand Mosque. Saudi Arabia extended curfew restrictions on Islam's two holiest cities. AFP -
Moroccan health workers scan passengers arriving from Italy on March 3. AFP -
A Jordanian police officer is seen at a checkpoint on March 25. Reuters -
A Jordanian health worker pictured on March 31. Reuters -
People travel on an overcrowded train on the outskirts of before a curfew ordered by the Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on March 26. Reuters -
Palestinians gather at the beach as the sun sets over Gaza City on March 28. EPA -
A member of a medical team sprays disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus outbreak at a tuk-tuk three wheel motorcycle in Shobra district in Cairo, Egypt on April 3. EPA -
A Moroccan health ministry worker disinfects a man walking a dog in the capital Rabat on MArch 22. AFP -
In Algiers, Algeria, a woman seen in an empty bus station. Reuters -
A Tunisian Red Crescent member prepares food packages to be delivered to the elderly and needy families on March 31. EPA -
Workers disinfect desks and chairs in the Lebanese Parliament in central Beirut on March 10. AFP -
Travellers returning to Kuwait from Egypt, Syria and Lebanon arrive to be re-tested at a Kuwaiti health ministry containment and screening zone in Kuwait City on March 16. AFP -
A worker disinfects a house in a neighbourhood in the central Iraqi holy city of Najaf on March 23. AFP -
Doctors test a resident of Baghdad's suburb of Sadr City for the coronavirus on April 2. AFP -
Kuwaiti policemen wearing protective masks wait at Sheikh Saad Airport in Kuwait City,b efore transferring Kuwaitis arriving from Iran to a hospital to be tested for coronavirus on February 22. AFP -
Iranian sanitary workers disinfect Qom's Masumeh shrine on to prevent the spread of the coronavirus on February 25. AFP -
A view of beds at a shopping mall, one of Iran's largest, which has been turned into a centre to receive patients suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Tehran on April 4. Reuters -
A Lebanese employee wearing a protective mask looks at a bed in a ward at the Rafik Hariri University Hospital where the first coronavirus case was admitted on Feburary 22. AFP -
Medical staff in protective gears distribute information sheets to Iraqi passengers returning from Iran at Najaf International Airport on March 5. AFP -
Employees of the Fatih Municipality wearing protective suits disinfect the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul on MArch 13. AFP -
Sanitation workers from Tadweer spraying the pedestrian crossing on Hamdan and Fatima Bint Mubarak Street on March 27. Victor Besa / The National -
Colin and his wife Hilda run a marathon on their balcony on March 28 while the City of Dubai is under a Stay At Home policy to keep residence safe from the spread of Covid-19. Antonie Robertson / The National -
school buses parked outside Global Village on April 1. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
The new screening drive-thru for COVID-19 at Zayed Sports City, Abu Dhabi. Chris Whiteoak / The National
Across the country, schools and universities have emptied classrooms and turned to digital learning, once bustling malls have temporarily shut and the majority of flights in and out of the country have been grounded.
A nationwide sterilisation campaign has been launched to clean up roads, streets and the public transport fleet.
Drive-through Covid-19 testing centres have also been rolled out in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
In Dubai, residents now require a permit to leave their homes for essential journeys such as hospital visits and to pick up groceries.
The uplifting video asks 10 million people to place their trust in the country – whether it is their homeland or adopted home – and assures them they will be supported in the "darkest" of times.
Viewers are told the UAE embraces all of its residents – wherever they come from – as a montage is shown of healthcare workers, patients in hospital and UAE leaders Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
Sheikh Mohamed is shown telling of how he was moved to tears by videos of residents singing the UAE national anthem to hail the frontline heroes for their fight against Covid-19.
The 90-second video calls on the public to be part of the "UAE family" and join together to overcome the threat of coronavirus.
