UAE reports six new virus cases; schools, colleges get early break
abu dhabi — All schools and higher education institutions in the UAE will close for four weeks from Sunday as a precautionary measure while six new cases of coronavirus were reported in the country.
“The Education Ministry announces early start of spring vacation for schools,” state news agency Wam tweeted late on Tuesday.
Spring break, which was due to begin on March 15 will now begin on March 8 and last for four weeks instead of the originally planned three. According to the tweet, students will attend classes virtually through its distance learning initiative during the break.
The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention on Tuesday announced six new cases of coronavirus. The six individuals include two Russians, two Italians, one German and one Colombian — all connected to the previous cases associated with the UAE Tour cycling event.
The ministry said the individuals are in a stable condition and are receiving all necessary care required.
“The total number of coronavirus cases has reached 27,” the ministry said, adding that five of the previously reported cases have fully recovered.
Earlier in the day, the UAE
Cabinet reviewed procedures and plans to prevent Covid-19 spread in the country and assured that normal activities across all sectors in the country will continue uninterrupted.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who chaired the Cabinet meeting, was briefed on the latest developments and preventive measures taken by all national authorities to protect the community from Covid-19.
“The public and private sectors, as well as the UAE federal and local authorities, have undertaken strict measures to implement the highest standards of sanitation,
health and safety protocols. All operational guidelines are being reviewed by all appropriate institutions and as such, all normal daily activities across all sectors
in the country will continue uninterrupted and unchanged,” a statement said.
abu dhabi — With nuclear fuel assemblies loaded into the Unit 1 of Barakah power plant, the UAE has officially become the first peaceful nuclear energy operator in the Arab world, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) announced on Tuesday.
The Emirates joins a limited group of countries that have successfully developed the infrastructure and capability to use nuclear energy to generate safe, clean, and reliable electricity.
“Our teams have been training over the years to safely progress towards providing the UAE with clean, reliable and abundant electricity to power our economic and societal growth,” said Mohamed Al Hammadi, CEO of Enec.
The milestone was crossed this week, following the safe completion of the process to load fuel assemblies into the Unit 1 reactor. The fuel load was overseen by the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR). Highly trained and FANR-certified fuel operators — with over 90 per cent participation of Emirati experts — led the transfer and loading of the 241 fuel assemblies into Unit 1.
“Our teams are now safely and steadily transitioning through the sophisticated, highly regulated process to advance Unit 1 towards full electrical generation capacity,” Al Hammadi said.
Ready for the next stage
With the fuel load complete, the next step will be for the teams of Nawah, the operations and maintenance subsidiary of Enec, and the Korea Electric Power Corporation to start operating the plant.
In this next process — known as power ascension testing — systems of Unit 1 are gradually tested to move into full electricity production.
“Barakah is more than an energy plant ... it significantly improves the carbon footprint and energy security of the nation and accelerates decarbonisation to contribute to alleviating climate change,” Al Hammadi said.
Enec is currently in the final stages of construction for the remaining three units of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra region. The overall construction of the four units is more than 93 per cent complete. —