Children under 12 need not take Covid-19 test to enter Abu Dhabi
dubai — Children aged under 12 years don’t need to have a Covidnegative test result to enter Abu Dhabi, Arabic media reported on Tuesday. Quoting the Abu Dhabi Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Committee for the Covid-19 Pandemic, the reports said a negative test result is mandatory for everyone else to go to the emirate.
As Khaleej Times reported on Monday, UAE residents and visitors should have received a Covid-negative result 48 hours prior to their visit.
The committee stressed that the decision does not intend to increase the financial burden on the people; it aims to help conclude the emirate’s mass testing programme. It advised residents to not leave the emirate unless it is an emergency.
The committee said it has studied the possibility of traffic tailbacks expected at the Abu Dhabi border as authorities check the test results. It advised everyone to not travel to the emirate without the test result so as to avoid delaying those who do.
The committee answered several key questions posed by residents.
Do I need a movement permit to travel to Abu Dhabi?
Residents don’t need a movement permit to travel to the capital; they just need to show the negative test results via the AlHosn app or as a text message from any hospital or screening centre in the UAE affiliated to the National Screening Programme.
How soon will I get a test result?
The committee advised residents wanting to get back to Abu Dhabi to consider the time it takes to get the test results and plan their visit accordingly. It added that there are several hospitals and centres that do the test.
I work in Abu Dhabi, but want to visit my family in other emirates during the weekends.
The committee said testing centres affiliated to the Abu Dhabi
Health Services Company will be operational during the weekends and that this category of residents can get the test done before leaving the emirate. However, it advised residents to avoid travel for now for their own safety.
What is the aim of this decision?
The committee said the decision aims to help Abu Dhabi authorities complete its mass testing programme. “It will help us reduce the rate of infections.”