COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Denmark has temporarily suspended all United Arab Emirates flights for five days after suspecting that the coronavirus tests that can be obtained before leaving Dubai are unreliable, officials said on Friday.
The development, which occurs amid a wave of infections in the United Arab Emirates, represents a direct challenge to the mass testing regime that has been the mainstay of the country’s response to the country’s coronavirus and the economic reopening. Dubai was one of the first destinations in the world to open up to tourists, receiving visitors from anywhere with just a coronavirus test.
Danish Transport Minister Benny Engelbrecht said the decision was made to allow the matter to be investigated thoroughly and to ensure that the tests are being carried out properly.
“We cannot ignore this suspicion,” said Engelbrecht, adding that the ban came into effect on Thursday night.
The Danish authorities faced a “concrete and serious citizen inquiry” about how the tests are carried out at the points of entry and exit in Dubai, he said, and “therefore, we need to be absolutely sure that there are no problems”.
Engelbrecht said that at least “one citizen” has brought the South African variant of the virus “back from Dubai”. He no longer identified that person. Dubai has seen an increase in the number of South African residents as the country’s economy has deteriorated in recent years.
Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet said on Friday that there was a second report of allegedly sloppy virus tests in Dubai, and quoted Engelbrecht as saying “the information looks accurate and valid”.
Since January 9, Denmark has required that all passengers arriving in the Scandinavian country have a negative coronavirus test or proof that they recently had COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, to limit the spread of the virus.
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request from the Associated Press to comment on the suspension of the flight and the suspicions surrounding virus testing.
On January 8, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised against all trips abroad, including business trips. On Tuesday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told local media that “there is a reason why we really ask everyone not to travel. It is very important for everyone to listen. “
“There is a risk of bringing mutations (of viruses) to Denmark,” she said. “It can undermine our control of the epidemic and thus infect other people and what’s worse.”
In recent days, several Danish celebrities, socialites and influencers – such as ex-boxer Mikkel Kessler, ex-international football player Nicklas Bendtner and table tennis star Michael Maze – have traveled to Dubai and posted pictures of himself on social media.
Lea Hvidt Kessler, wife of the former world super middleweight champion, wrote on Instagram that no one in the family who traveled to Dubai before Christmas was infected. According to the media in Denmark, there are currently 85 Danish citizens there and about 800 permanent Danish residents in Dubai.
On Friday, when the UAE broke its 11th consecutive daily infection record with 3,552 new cases, the Dubai state media office announced new strict limits for weddings, social events and private parties starting next Wednesday, restricting all meetings to 10 immediate family members. Wedding parties in hotels and other places previously had a maximum of 200.
Dubai also announced the immediate suspension of all “entertainment activities” on floating boats and restaurants – a popular pastime in the city. Tourists and celebrities often show off their holidays on social media, posting pictures of loud parties on champagne-soaked yachts that have appeared in tabloids in recent weeks. A day earlier, Dubai suspended all bands and live performances in the city’s nightclubs and bars after hospitals were forced to stop non-urgent surgery to deal with a flow of new patients with COVID-19.
Tourists have migrated to Dubai in recent weeks, despite the violent pandemic, escaping blockades at home. The sparkling city-state, with an economy largely based on tourism, aviation and retail, has promoted itself as an ideal location for pandemic vacations. In addition to the ubiquitous masks and hand sanitizers, a sense of pre-pandemic normality prevails in crowded bars, huge shopping malls and luxury hotels.
Rising daily infections, which have almost tripled since November, have failed to impair normality, even with the most contagious variants of the coronavirus worldwide. The United Kingdom, which like Denmark sent crowds of reality shows and sports stars to Dubai, closed its travel corridor with the United Arab Emirates earlier this month.
Since the start of the pandemic, the UAE has built its response to coronavirus into an “early detection strategy”, using coronavirus test kits made in China to embark on one of the best testing campaigns in the world at a time when others countries were struggling to obtain and administer PCR testing. As of Friday, the country of approximately 9 million had performed about 24.2 million tests for coronavirus.
The US State Department had previously raised concerns that Chinese test material it was not necessary without providing evidence about the claim.
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Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.