Restrictions on flights from four countries extended

▶ Given its efficacy, Sotrovimab will drastically change the medical approach to the virus

The UAE has extended restrictions on flights from four major South Asian nations, Emirates airline said yesterday.

The restrictions were extended from Wednesday, July 21, to Sunday, July 25, because of the Covid-19 situation.

“In line with UAE government directives, Emirates will be suspending the carriage of passengers from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to Dubai until July 25,” the airline’s website said.

“Furthermore, passengers who have connected through India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka in the last 14 days will not be accepted to travel from any other point to the UAE.”

Emiratis, holders of golden visas and members of diplomatic missions may be accepted for travel.

Previously, officials said that these people must quarantine for 10 days on arrival.

Restrictions were first imposed on flights from India in late April and on flights from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal on May 12, as the Delta variant of the coronavirus spread.

There was no update about flights from Nepal.

The UAE reported 1,529 new coronavirus cases yesterday, taking the total to 660,978, after another 265,482 Covid-19 tests were carried out.

Two people died, raising the death toll to 1,898.

Another 1,504 people beat the virus, increasing recoveries to 638,771. There are 20,309 active cases.

At least 77.62 per cent of people have received one Covid-19 vaccine dose, while 68.13 per cent are fully vaccinated.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will go into isolation for a week after attempting to sidestep quarantine following a colleague’s diagnosis with the coronavirus.

He had a meeting on Friday with Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who announced his positive test on Saturday but said he was fully vaccinated and experiencing only mild symptoms.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak was also told he had been in contact with someone who had the virus.

He and Mr Johnson planned to avoid isolation rules by using a pilot daily testing scheme that is not available on demand to the general public.

But a climbdown swiftly followed after the Conservative Party ministers were accused of using a “VIP lane” to dodge the regulations.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been told to self-isolate by the UK’s National Health Service app as the Delta variant fuels a third wave of infections.

Acknowledging the aboutturn in a video yesterday, Mr Johnson said it was “far more important that everybody sticks to the same rules”.

His office said he would isolate at Chequers, his official country residence north of London.

Mr Sunak said the pilot scheme would only have allowed him out for essential government business, but said he recognised the concern that the rules would not be the same for everyone.

Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, described the planned workaround as a “slap in the face for everyone who has made sacrifices”.

“Boris Johnson should be setting an example. Instead, he gives himself and his chancellor preferential treatment,” he said.

Mr Johnson’s government is preparing to lift most restrictions on social life in England from today.

Masks will no longer be compulsory and limits on social gatherings will end.

Around the world, more than 3.5 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered. Nonetheless, many countries have persistently high rates of infection, even in areas with leading inoculation campaigns. In the UK, for example, almost 55,000 people tested positive on Saturday. While vaccines have made hospital admissions and mortality rates much lower than in previous waves, these high numbers show how Covid-19 can still pose a threat to a country’s health system and population if it reopens too hastily. Pandemics are not won with a single scientific discovery. Finding vaccines might have been a significant milestone that made us safer, but they were only one part of the plan to fight Covid-19.

On Saturday, the campaign against the virus was given a boost by good news outside the realm of vaccine technology. Data from 6,175 Covid-19 patients in the UAE revealed that a new antiviral drug, Sotrovimab, appears to be 100 per cent successful in stopping deaths from the virus and 99 per cent effective in preventing admissions to intensive care. Particularly reassuring is the fact that more than half of all recipients were above the age of 50 and almost all had medical issues, such as cancer, heart disease or diabetes.

Medics can now have confidence in a new drug. On a wider scale, Sotrovimab can also protect entire healthcare systems, particularly intensive care wards, from becoming overwhelmed.

In March, a study published in the International Journal for Quality in Health Care found that the typical hospital stay in Germany for a Covid-19 fatality was between 5-19 days. Reducing such stays on wards for the most ill patients throws struggling doctors a lifeline. There is one crucial ingredient that secured the discovery of Sotrovimab: time. The UAE received its shipment in mid-June – one of the first worldwide – well over a year since the country recorded its first case. And with time, more such discoveries will follow.

This is why safety measures must be kept in place. With each month, new drugs, vaccines, behavioural measures and treatments will be discovered. This is the assessment authorities in Abu Dhabi have made, maintaining a level of security since the beginning of the pandemic and announcing last week new measures to keep the public safe.

Lifting restrictions too early could fuel new, more vaccine-resistant variants, undoing the benefits of the progress medics and governments have made. And as more people recover, doctors are learning more about the danger posed by complications such as Long Covid. A study in Abu Dhabi found that eight per cent of people infected with the virus might end up with more enduring complications. Another study, this time in the UK, found as many as 200 symptoms associated with the condition, from fatigue to hallucinations. The road ahead to end this pandemic is still long. Covid19 has given us few certainties. We should celebrate results that show 100 per cent efficacy in Sotrovimab preventing death. We must also remember another certainty: time and discipline will get us out of this pandemic.