Lieutenant-General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, the commander-in-chief of Dubai Police, has singled out private events, parties and meetings as the primary cause behind an uptick in Covid-19 cases in the UAE.

He warned that the rise in new infections were due to the lack of precautionary measures, such as maintaining social distancing and wearing masks.

Al Marri said an organiser of an event must ensure that the attendees have undergone PCR tests. He urged the organiser to ensure that the venue has enough room to maintain social distancing norms and noted that members of the public are partners in any move to keep the contagion at bay. “No country in the world is equipped to tackle such a pandemic on its own. People must cooperate with the authorities concerned in a bid to rein in the spread of the viral outbreak,” he said.

Al Marri urged the public to abide by precautionary measures to safeguard community members. He cited logistical constraints in ensuring that each and every member of society was complying with the stringent precautionary norms — and called on citizens and residents to report any violations they see to the police.

Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management has issued elaborate directives to control the spike in new Covid-19 cases. On Friday, the committee put a cap on the maximum number of people who are allowed to attend a wedding, social event, private party, at 10 in a hotel or at home. The new restrictions will come into effect from January 27.

Al Marri pointed to the three variants of vaccine — China’s Sinopharm, Russia’s Sputnik V and Pfizer-BioNtech — that are being offered by the visionary leadership of the UAE. He lauded the UAE government’s extraordinary efforts as “the only country in the world that is providing exceptional services to its nationals and residents”.

On Saturday, UAE health authorities reported that as many as 87,720 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

So far, 2.42 million UAE nationals and residents have received the jab at a dose rate of 24.54 per 100 people.

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