Is it finally time for the UK to stop seeing red over UAE travel?
As the UAE notches up a new monthly low in terms of new cases of coronavirus in July, and continues to be a world leader in vaccination, it is now time for the costly Red List travel status by the UK to be reviewed
‘Stubborn’ as a word is defined in the dictionary as ‘having or showing dogged determination not to change one’s attitude or position on something, especially in spite of good arguments or reasons to do so’.
Sadly for me the Great British lion is beginning to resemble a mule with its unrelenting Red List status of the UAE, something which hurts not only the economy here but which costs the UK hundreds of millions of pounds.
This initial decision by Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Transport of the United Kingdom, came on January 29, that’s 184 days ago at time of writing, as cases in the Emirates did spike following a mass exodus of travel from the UK – indeed the Dubai to London route at that time was the busiest in the world.
Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Transport of the United Kingdom.
But a lot of water has flowed under the pandemic’s bridge since then.
We at Arabian Business wrote an open letter to Mr Shapps back in May calling for a rethink, citing the drop in cases (again) after strong regulation, the high vaccination rate, the world-leading precautions being taken at the UAE’s airports plus the text-book response to Covid by the government.
Perhaps understandably nothing moved at that point as concerns about the Delta variant arose in the UK and a third wave grew. There were still unknowns around what that would look like, worth though noting that the UAE moved much quicker to shut off flights to India than Great Britain.
Flights to and from India remain suspended in the UAE, while in the UK flights to the country ravaged by the Delta variant where it was first identified, are still allowed albeit it with quarantine, and there are even reports that India – and not the UAE – could be removed from the Red List at the next review.
The fact is that the Delta variant is now the predominant strain in the UK, so much so that there are calls for it to be reclassified, no longer to be viewed as a ‘variant of concern’.
Once again the UAE’s proactive stance, where masks are still required and risky flights suspended, remains world-leading, especially when viewed by the UK’s removal of all social distancing requirements, with Boris Johnson preferring that their high vaccination rate now do the heavy lifting instead of precautions.
This perhaps is the most confusing position as far as the Red List status of the UAE is concerned. Back in May and April it looked cautious, now it just seems stubborn.
According to data published in the Sunday Times from Our World In Data, the UAE continues to be a top five vaccinator around the globe, following only the likes of Gibraltar, Pitcairn, Malta and Iceland which are dealing with minuscule population numbers in comparison.
The UK, whose vaccination effort has also been laudable, sits at number 21 in this table.
Headlines in the UK report that Chancellor Rishi Sunak has written to Boris Johnson urging for travel restrictions to be dropped over the damage being done to the economy and tourism industry. This follows data in Arabian Business that the continued red listing cost the UK $82 million in the third week of July alone.
July also saw a new low for new cases in the UAE and so Arabian Business is renewing its call to Grant Shapps to rethink this Red List status at the next review on August 5.
Mules are in fact admirable creatures with a deep instinct for self-preservation, but isn’t it time the British lion roared again?
Staff Writer, Editor in Chief, Arabian Business
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Is it finally time for the UK to stop seeing red over UAE travel?
As the UAE notches up a new monthly low in terms of new cases of coronavirus in July, and continues to be a world leader in vaccination, it is now time for the costly Red List travel status by the UK to be reviewed
‘Stubborn’ as a word is defined in the dictionary as ‘having or showing dogged determination not to change one’s attitude or position on something, especially in spite of good arguments or reasons to do so’.
Sadly for me the Great British lion is beginning to resemble a mule with its unrelenting Red List status of the UAE, something which hurts not only the economy here but which costs the UK hundreds of millions of pounds.
This initial decision by Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Transport of the United Kingdom, came on January 29, that’s 184 days ago at time of writing, as cases in the Emirates did spike following a mass exodus of travel from the UK – indeed the Dubai to London route at that time was the busiest in the world.
But a lot of water has flowed under the pandemic’s bridge since then.
We at Arabian Business wrote an open letter to Mr Shapps back in May calling for a rethink, citing the drop in cases (again) after strong regulation, the high vaccination rate, the world-leading precautions being taken at the UAE’s airports plus the text-book response to Covid by the government.
Perhaps understandably nothing moved at that point as concerns about the Delta variant arose in the UK and a third wave grew. There were still unknowns around what that would look like, worth though noting that the UAE moved much quicker to shut off flights to India than Great Britain.
Flights to and from India remain suspended in the UAE, while in the UK flights to the country ravaged by the Delta variant where it was first identified, are still allowed albeit it with quarantine, and there are even reports that India – and not the UAE – could be removed from the Red List at the next review.
The fact is that the Delta variant is now the predominant strain in the UK, so much so that there are calls for it to be reclassified, no longer to be viewed as a ‘variant of concern’.
Once again the UAE’s proactive stance, where masks are still required and risky flights suspended, remains world-leading, especially when viewed by the UK’s removal of all social distancing requirements, with Boris Johnson preferring that their high vaccination rate now do the heavy lifting instead of precautions.
This perhaps is the most confusing position as far as the Red List status of the UAE is concerned. Back in May and April it looked cautious, now it just seems stubborn.
According to data published in the Sunday Times from Our World In Data, the UAE continues to be a top five vaccinator around the globe, following only the likes of Gibraltar, Pitcairn, Malta and Iceland which are dealing with minuscule population numbers in comparison.
The UK, whose vaccination effort has also been laudable, sits at number 21 in this table.
Headlines in the UK report that Chancellor Rishi Sunak has written to Boris Johnson urging for travel restrictions to be dropped over the damage being done to the economy and tourism industry. This follows data in Arabian Business that the continued red listing cost the UK $82 million in the third week of July alone.
July also saw a new low for new cases in the UAE and so Arabian Business is renewing its call to Grant Shapps to rethink this Red List status at the next review on August 5.
Mules are in fact admirable creatures with a deep instinct for self-preservation, but isn’t it time the British lion roared again?
Staff Writer, Editor in Chief, Arabian Business
Follow us on
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