ABU DHABI // Countries in the Gulf region need to concentrate on minimising the spread of swine flu rather than trying to contain it, an expert said yesterday.
Dr Ziad Memish, the head of the GCC's centre for infection control, said officials should follow advice from the World Health Organisation and focus on mitigation, as containment was no longer an option.
This week the UAE and Bahrain both confirmed positive cases of the H1N1 virus.
Ministry of Health officials travelled to Riyadh on Monday for an all-day meeting to co-ordinate and combine preventive measures across the region.
Dr Memish was at the meeting and said officials discussed antiviral stocks, entry and exit point monitors, and ways to document potential spreads of the virus.
"We were trying to co-ordinate all the national plans in the Gulf," he said, to "ensure consistency in the policies and procedures".
"The time for containment is long gone. Now it is just trying to limit the spread of the virus.
"We understand that there will be more cases. The source is still there but there is no reason for people to panic."
Yesterday the WHO daily statement reported more than 12,900 cases in 46 countries. The comprehensive country list did not include Bahrain or the UAE.
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Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
UAE%20SQUAD
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Mrs%20Chatterjee%20Vs%20Norway
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Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
The biog
Name: Maitha Qambar
Age: 24
Emirate: Abu Dhabi
Education: Master’s Degree
Favourite hobby: Reading
She says: “Everyone has a purpose in life and everyone learns from their experiences”