00:00The partial opening of the city of Dubai is a clear demonstration that the government has a
00:04full grasp or understanding of the current situation from a management point of view.
00:11It is a good demonstration that the government has the capacity to address the current and future
00:18needs of its people from a health healthcare perspective. And then number two and most
00:23importantly it shows Dubai's multi-dimensional view of the current situation rather than having
00:30a side of view by recognizing the importance of the business sector in the economy.
00:38I think it's a good move because we actually need an economy boost currently. Lots of people
00:44are losing their jobs or not being able to work and not getting paid and all these things so
00:50I think the partial opening is a good move. However of course all of us would need to
00:57follow the guidelines and make sure that we're still safe. I on a personal level
01:03would probably still do the normal things that I've been doing during lockdown which is just
01:09go out for essentials and not take advantage of the whole thing just so we're safe and we can
01:16We are quite concerned with this partial reopening of Dubai to the public because
01:20there is still a significant rise in the number of new cases daily although the recovery rate is
01:25also something great to look at and that the death rate is impacted by many factors including the
01:31pre-existing conditions of the patients. But what we don't want to happen is what happened to
01:36Singapore and Japan wherein they were commended because of their positive response and control
01:42to the cases but apparently after reopening the cities they face uncontrollable rise of new cases
01:49and that's something that I put my confidence to the authorities of Dubai and the UAE that they
01:54know what they're doing that the measures are in place and that this partial reopening is governed
02:00very well so that they will prevent to become the third country who faces a second wave of
02:05infections. But at the end of the day I believe it's still the due diligence of the citizens like
02:10me to decide if you are going out or staying at home. I personally have mixed thoughts and
02:17feelings about this recently announced opening in the UAE. One is I'm particularly happy that
02:24this means we'll be able to bring our children outdoors at least a quick visit to the park or
02:30a quick drive around. However I'm quite concerned that people may go complacent
02:36with their movement every day and they may forget the basic precautionary measures
02:43on how to keep themselves safe. While we have strict restrictions in our
02:50movement a few weeks ago we saw that the number of COVID-19 cases had been increasing day by day
02:57so I really hope and pray that this number the statistics will go down very soon. This is a good
03:03move for the local businesses in support of them. I know for a fact that there's a lot of people who
03:09would like to avail these services that the businesses provide. The UAE government is
03:16trusting us that we will be responsible enough to follow the guidelines that they set for us.
03:23Things like wearing masks, keeping your distance with other people. Yes we can go out however we
03:30need to follow the guidelines that was set to us by the UAE government. My thoughts regarding with
03:36the opening of the mall is that I am totally against with it. We don't know what's out there,
03:42how safe the mall is or how safe those people who's going out. I don't see a reason why we need
03:49to go there. If the reason is just to buy our needs, to buy clothes, we can purchase online
03:57food, groceries, medicine, clothes you can definitely purchase online. So if it's just
04:05to change our environment, I don't think that is a good idea to go to the mall.
04:10And we will definitely reach to the point where we can go out, we can enjoy the sun, we can socialize
04:18again. It's just that we need to be patient and help each other by staying at home. Dubai's
04:26partial opening makes economic sense. The economy has to run in order for us to thrive
04:32and survive. We are walking in a delicate balance between economics and being safe.
04:39Dubai's effort is admirable though and the rest of the world should take notice if they haven't.
04:45The new cases are still rising but only because people are being tested and the facility
04:53is readily available. Look also at the very low number of deaths and the very high number
04:59of recoveries and we can be certain that Dubai coped very well during the closure. It is also
05:06worth noting that the attitude and the discipline of the residents have been amazing. With the
05:12partial reopening of Dubai, many residents breathe a sigh of relief, especially for businesses who
05:19have really felt the brunt of this global crisis, but for individuals as well who have had their
05:25salary cuts because of lack of business and also those who have lost their jobs and because of the
05:32closure have not been able to find new jobs in the market. But even though Dubai has partially
05:37reopened, it's still important for every citizen to stay safe and to be cautious because we don't
05:44know in these uncertain times what could happen next. We are fighting a battle with our eyes
05:49closed because the enemy is invisible. The reopening needs cooperation for everyone. It's a cooperation
05:59for everyone. It's discipline for everyone. If we want to flatten this curve
06:06then everyone must have their share.
06:09It's just hoping and praying because nobody knows what's going to happen to us any given day.
06:16I honestly don't feel 100% safe because we're talking about coronavirus which started off
06:25with an infected individual and now infected at least 1.2 million people worldwide and here in
06:35the Emirates alone it's like 9,000 people infected to date. So unless there's basically a vaccine or
06:44a cure or even a medicine for this, I don't think that people and everybody is ready to be back to
06:52normal again. Because being back to normal means reopening up businesses, more interactions with
06:59people, riding the public transportation and this could potentially increase the cross
07:06contamination of the virus again and we'll go back all over again towards our situation right now.
