SAUDI ARABIA RECORDS 3,531 RECOVERIES

US toll a reminder of our responsibilities ahead in the war against Covid-19

■ Saudi Arabia yesterday reported 1,644 new cases and 16 more

deaths, taking total infections to 80,185 and the toll to 441. It also reported 3,531 recoveries, taking the total to 54,553. The kingdom, which will allow prayers in mosques and resume domestic flights from Sunday, said Umrah trips will remain suspended.

■ The UAE reported 563 new cases after more than 38,000 tests, taking total infections to 32,532. Three deaths took the toll to 258. Total recoveries reached 16,685 as 314 patients recovered.

■ Kuwait, which will not extend its lockdown ending tomorrow, reported 845 new cases and 10 deaths. Oman, which ends a lockdown in Muscat today, reported 636 new cases and two

deaths. It now has a total of 40 deaths and 2,177 recoveries.

The US passed the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday, becoming the first country with a six-figure death toll. With global cases soaring past 5.7 million and more than 354,000 deaths, the road ahead in the battle against Covid-19 is full of treacherous twists and turns even as countries begin a cautious journey to reopen their economies.

Experts have warned that there’s a good chance the virus will never go away, even after a vaccine is discovered. In a sign of the complexities involved in exiting a lockdown, South Korea re-imposed social distancing rules after a spike in new cases.

So should countries and communities just passively wait out the pandemic at home and hope that the virus goes away — may be in six months or a year? That would be wishful thinking and a recipe for economic catastrophe.

Instead, a purposeful embrace of the situation is crucial to the next phase of the global pandemic response.

As the US jobless figures crossed 40 million yesterday, it was a stark reminder that hundreds of millions of people around the world are simply trying to survive, having lost their livelihoods. Therefore, ignoring the economic devastation of the pandemic will ultimately lead to a great human tragedy — the world simply cannot afford to remain insulated at home anymore and keep factories, malls, offices and governments shut.

It’s here that the UAE’s handling of the pandemic and the careful balancing of economic and health priorities offers the world some lessons. The UAE did not hesitate to swiftly shut educational institutions and impose movement restrictions in the early days of the outbreak. Instead of waiting for the pandemic to spread further, it rapidly scaled up its capacity to test the population and to treat all positive cases — the result being that UAE is now the global leader in testing and has a vast network of field hospitals ready for Covid-19 patients. Meanwhile, it’s reopening the economy in carefully calibrated steps with stringent safety measures in place.

What does the immediate future hold for humanity? A second wave of Covid-19 infections, a vaccine in September? Nobody knows for sure — but what’s certain is that without cautiously and deliberately embracing the new normal, the world will perpetually remain caught in the vicious circle of lockdowns, feeble commercial activities and severe economic downturns.