UKCityGent

Finally returned back to the land of the sandpit after a little sojourn in the UK for 6 months.

I believe that this CV is total tosh for young/fit/healthly people - if you have underlying (or unknown underlying issues) it can cause problems (and death is extreme) but so can the flu. Perhaps this is eugenics version 2.0 to reduce the number of numpties we seemed to have accurred (plus the avacado eating tight trousers hipsters!)

Edit: plus the avacado eating tight trousers hipsters! - with beards (and that includes the women !)

scrubbedexpat141

We're getting back to peak cases up in the 800-1000 a day range.

There was some media announcement that I missed on Thursday evening but apparently it was just a bit of a warning / telling off to be more careful?

We can't be far away from another curfew situation or restriction, surely?
Not that I think it's a great idea, I just assume we must be close to that sort of panic?

csdf

Last time, when the peak of 994 was reached, I believe testing rates were about a third of today, so the positivity rate was about 3%, vs 1% now. That suggests that the real number of cases at the last peak was about 3x higher or about 3000/day. On top of that, in the early days basically everyone was hospitalised, no matter how mild, and treated with lots of drugs (with potential bad side effects) that meant you had to keep them in hospital to monitor them. Nowadays, I understand that hospitalisation is less aggressive so pressure on bedspace is lower.

On the other hand, the case rates will just keep rising unless enforced social distancing is put back in place. Nobody wants a second lockdown, but if the health systems become full again I don't know what other option they have. Israel is at 4000 cases a day and has the same population as the UAE and they've just gone back into lockdown. That daily rate (4000/day) is also comparable to the "real" rates for the UAE back in May during lockdown.

Millhouse

I’m not sure you can infer all that from the positivity rate, how and who we test has changed dramatically.

scrubbedexpat141

Just had a look, it's not quite triple, but it's roughly double so get your point, definitely makes sense.

Imagine if we knew how many people had had it but didn't know....

csdf

Sure, tt's conjecture, but do you have an alternative explanation for the hospitals not being creaking at the seams? The popular rumour that the virus has mutated to become less dangerous is not supported by any scientific evidence. And a shift in average age of infection (as has been seen in Europe) can't be happening here as the average age is already so low and there are limited numbers of elderly people. It could be that vulnerable people are shielding more effectively now, but my mates in the hospitals weren't complaining about having to treat old vulnerable people, they were run off their feet treating young, otherwise healthy people.

Maxima

I had been following "cases" in the other Gulf nations over the summer

What I noticed was that Bahrain, Oman, and Kuwait (and the unmentionables) would consistently post higher numbers than that of the UAE, a trend which changed only in the last few days. Even now, Bahrain is regularly posting daily numbers in 500s and 600s

And those numbers would be found from far fewer tests than done in the UAE....and of course each of those countries have less than half the population of the UAE,,,,

However expats there seem to take it all more lightly than in Dubai based on my limited interaction online,.

In the UAE, every time the number goes to 800 or 900 people get into a mad panic, posting on FB and begging for lockdowns and curfews and ranting about brunches and dinners

Are expats in Dubai softer which causes them to panic even at a 1% test positivity rate ?

scot47

We should execute would-be-suicides.

Millhouse

I think it's a change in the policy on response. We now know that not everyone needs to go to hospital. Before, there was panic and alarm - everyone was carted off to hospital. Now people stay at home until they get worse or feel better.

Obviously, it's not magically mutated in our favor.

csdf

Fair enough, that's reasonable. Though it can't 100% be it because whilst that explains standard bedspace utilisation being lower, it doesn't really account for ICU bedspace utilisation being lower.

UKCityGent

The numbers here in Kuwait range from 650+ (usually at the start of the work) and work up to 850+ . I don't believe that there would be another full-scale lock down - that is economic suicide for any country. Social distancing doesn't seem to work. Open the country up and go back to normality and get some common sense. I dont believe that there is a vacaine that will remove the virus for good - it is something we will have to co-exist with for a good few years. This will become the norm.

nonthaburi

Yes, they're all pu****s, sipping on a latte, complaining that the ubereats guy turned up 10 minutes late.

Millhouse

The only thing I care about is my ability to sip my latte while the kid is in nursery. If the nursery doesn’t open in Oct as promised then the delivery guy will get a loud tut and a door slam from me.

nonthaburi

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1733916/saudi-arabia

Flights to resume after January 1st. Only exceptional circumstances before that. 30 days notice before the end of the year with an exact date.

nonthaburi

An official source at the Ministry of Interior stated that, based on what the competent authorities have submitted regarding developments in the confrontation with the emerging corona virus (Covid 19) in the Kingdom, and the continued high rates of the epidemic in a number of countries, some of which are currently facing a second wave of the pandemic, and in light of The possibility of not having a safe and effective vaccine to prevent this disease enough to cover everyone, before the end of 2020 AD, in the interest of the safety and health of citizens, and that they do not face difficulties during their presence outside the Kingdom in obtaining appropriate health care, due to what the health systems suffer in many countries Of the pressures caused by the pandemic, and the need for the medical and health teams to focus on the various hospitals and medical centers at present, without distracting the efforts of the Ministry in combating the pandemic, by transferring a large number of its staff to the land, sea and air ports, and the importance of lifting the suspension of international flights to and from the Kingdom And the opening of the outlets gradually, allowing the opportunity to assess the situation in the coming months, until the health risks associated with the pandemic disappear, and suitable vaccines for the Corona virus appear.
The kind approval was issued for the following:
First:
1) The complete lifting of the restrictions on citizens leaving and returning to the Kingdom, and allowing the opening of ports for all means of transport through the land, sea and air ports, after the date of January 1, 2021 AD, according to the procedures followed before the Corona pandemic.
2) The date set for lifting the suspension and permission referred to in Paragraph 1 of this Clause (First) shall be announced 30 days before January 1, 2021 AD, and to the Ministry of Health if required at that time; To submit a request to set preventive health requirements for passengers and carriers, while traveling, and in the halls of airports, ports and stations.
Secondly:
As an exception to what is stated in clause (First), the following shall be done:
1) Allowing some categories of citizens to travel outside the Kingdom and return to it according to certain controls and requirements, and they are:
A - Governmental employees - civilian and military - assigned to official duties.
B - Workers in Saudi diplomatic and consular missions and attachés abroad, and workers in regional and international organizations, their families and their companions.
C - Workers in permanent jobs, in public, private or non-profit facilities, outside the Kingdom, and those who have job qualities in companies or commercial establishments outside the Kingdom.
D - Businessmen whose business conditions require travel to finish their commercial and industrial activities, and export, marketing and sales managers, whose work requires visiting their clients.
E - Patients whose treatment requires travel outside the Kingdom, based on medical reports, especially cancer patients and patients in need of organ transplantation.
F - students on scholarship, students studying on their own account, and trainees in medical fellowship programs, whose studies or training require travel to the countries in which they study or train and their companions.
G - Those who have humanitarian cases, especially the following two cases:
1) Family reunification for a citizen or citizenship with their relatives residing outside the Kingdom.
2) The death of the husband, wife, parent, or child outside the kingdom.
H - Residents outside the Kingdom and their companions, who have proof of their residence outside the Kingdom.
I - Participants in regional and international official sporting events, including players and members of technical and administrative staff.
2) Allowing entry and exit from the Kingdom for citizens of the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, as well as permitting entry to non-Saudis who have visas; Exit and return, work, residence or visit, provided that the entry of citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council countries and non-Saudis into the Kingdom is in accordance with the preventive health controls and procedures set by the committee concerned with taking measures to prevent the spread of the Corona virus in the Kingdom, and that the controls include not allowing anyone to enter The territory of the Kingdom, except after submitting evidence that it is free from infection with the emerging corona virus, based on a recent analysis by a reliable authority outside the Kingdom, the date of its conducting no more than 48 hours, the moment it arrived at the port.
3) The suspension is partially raised; For international flights to and from the Kingdom, and the opening of land, sea and air ports, allowing the excluded groups of citizens and others to enter and leave the Kingdom.
4) What is stated in these exceptions is without prejudice to any approved requirements or controls related to countries to which travel or arrival has been suspended, for reasons other than limiting the spread of the new Corona virus.
5) What is stated in these exceptions does not apply to countries in which the concerned committee decides to take preventive measures by suspending travel to or coming from them, due to the outbreak of the new Corona virus in them, in order to prevent the spread of the virus in the Kingdom.
6) The work begins with the implementation of the exceptions indicated. Six o'clock in the morning on Tuesday, Muharram 27, 1442 AH, corresponding to September 15, 2020 AD.
Third:
The concerned authorities, each within its jurisdiction, shall issue explanatory statements of the procedures for implementing the aforementioned exceptions, including the relevant controls and conditions.
Fourthly:
A plan to re-permit Umrah will be announced gradually, based on what will be decided independently later in this regard, in light of the developments related to the pandemic.