UAE reviews experience in combating COVID-19

CAIRO: The UAE participated in the Fourth Regional High-level Conference on the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, which began on Monday at the headquarters of the Secretariat General of the League of Arab States in Cairo.

The conference discussed the impact of crises on human rights in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and was held in cooperation with the Arab League Secretariat General and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The UAE delegation was headed by Saeed Rashid Al Hebsi, Director of the Human Rights Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC). In his remarks, Al Hebsi underscored that the UAE Government, since the beginning of the pandemic, has worked to preserve public health by launching a wide range of laws, policies, decisions, and precautionary and preventive measures that limited the pandemic’s impact.

He explained that the UAE Government’s measures and efforts aligned with the best practices and recommendations of specialised international organisations such as the World Health Organisation and United Nations bodies, mechanisms, and commitees concerned with human rights.

Al Hebsi also provided an overview of the policies, programmes, and strategies adopted by the country as part of efforts to overcome the pandemic. Most notable among them is the UAE’S POST-COVID-19 strategy, which aims to develop governmental work through action plans, policies, and mechanisms covering six main sectors: health, economy, food security, education, society, and government.

Separately, the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) announced that it conducted 198,379 additional COVID-19 tests over the past 24 hours, using state-of-the-art medical testing equipment.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Ministry stressed its aim to continue expanding the scope of testing nationwide to facilitate the early detection of coronavirus cases and carry out the necessary treatment. As part of its intensified testing campaign, MOHAP announced 1,257 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the UAE to 985,524.