The UAE government urged all residents to stay in their homes unless "absolutely necessary" on Monday.
The decision was also taken to close all malls and markets in the next 48 hours. In Dubai, malls and shops closed on Monday.
Stores selling essential goods including supermarkets and pharmacies will remain open.
All inbound, outbound and transit flights will be suspended in the next 48 hours.
The stay-home request falls short of a complete lockdown and allows families to use vehicles, shop for essential items and visit family members - if urgent. The government has not yet stopped people from going to work - though officials have advised them to work from home where possible.
Emergency authority NCEMA urged the public not to visit hospitals except for critical or emergency cases. If you must enter a medical facility, you should wear a face mask to prevent the spread of the virus. More details about the use of public transport and taxis are expected later.
Restaurants will not be allowed to receive customers. Instead, their services will be limited to home deliveries only.
"The public are also urged to use their own family cars, with a maximum of three individuals per vehicle," the Ministry of Interior and NCEMA said in a statement on state news agency Wam.
The government said the public should stay at home “unless it is absolutely necessary” to buy items such as food and medicine.
Despite the grounding of passenger services, cargo and emergency evacuation flights will continue to run, the Civil Aviation Authority said.
“Additional examination and isolation arrangements will be taken later should flights resume, in order to ensure the safety of passengers, air crews and airport personnel and their protection from infection risks,” it said.
-
Italian male nurse Paolo Miranda takes a self portrait in an elevator's mirror as he goes to start his shift at the Cremona hospital, southeast of Milan, Lombardy. AFP -
A child who has a high temperature has her details recorded by a health worker at a public hospital, in Harare, Zimbabwe. AP Photo -
French tenor singer Stephane Senechal (L) sings at his window for the inhabitants of his street in Paris, France. EPA -
Coffins, one of them with the pennant of the local soccer team, wait to be transported to cemetery, in the church of Serina, near Bergamo, Northern Italy. AP -
Members of Joint Task Force 2, composed of soldiers and airmen from the New York Army and Air National Guard, work to sanitize the New Rochelle High School during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in New Rochelle, New York, U.S. REUTERS -
Nurses wearing protective mask and gear embrac at the Cremona hospital, southeast of Milan, Lombardy, during the country's lockdown aimed at stopping the spread of the COVID-19. AFP -
Aerial view of empty roads in Medellin, Colombia. AFP -
French soldiers of La Valbonne medical regiment set up a military field hospital at the Emile Muller Hospital in Mulhouse, eastern France. AFP -
A man wears a protective suit and a gas mask as he walks along a street in central Moscow as Moscow city officials have limited public gatherings of more than 50 people and schools across the country will close for three weeks from March 23 in an effort to stop the spread of the COVID-19 infection caused by the novel coronavirus. AFP -
A man walks on the deserted Trocadero square in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on the fifth day of a strict nationwide lockdown. AFP -
Medics perform an examination on a rescued Syrian refugee in the Iskele district (Trikomo) in the self-declared Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) recognised only by Turkey, north of Famagusta. AFP -
Members of the Baden family from Coon Rapids, Minnesota, wave to their father and grandfather, John Baden, from the street because they are not allowed in his hospital room during the pandemic while he's being treated at the Hennepin County Medical Center for issues not related to Covid-19 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. EPA
