Combating coronavirus: UAE shows the way to the world

Dubai - The road back to school needs to be made as safe as possible. A letting down of the guard here can unnecessarily place stress on the comeback and that nobody wants.

The UAE has pretty much set the gold standard for combating the pandemic and corralling the virus. With daily figures now in a highly manageable 200 plus and recoveries almost three times that, the road to a total cleansing seems plausible. It is with this goal in mind that the coming Eid Al Adha holidays are being navigated according to a sensible blueprint, one in which the protocols of safety are being engineered not to take away from the celebration and the togetherness but to enhance the festive family togetherness by ensuring there is no negative fallout and no spike.

This will ensure that after the break we will be none the worse in terms of figures and that will indicate in no uncertain terms the maturity of the population and its understanding of how this pandemic has been successfully handled. We all know that if the public does not adhere to the advisories the government can do very little and, so far, except for a handful of individuals who believe they are infallible, the people have reacted with maturity and plain common sense.

There is an imperative in this collective effort that needs to be underscored. The road back to school needs to be made as safe as possible. A letting down of the guard here can unnecessarily place stress on the comeback and that nobody wants. What we can contribute to is making certain that the daily figures fall even further into double digits and then into single digits. And then poof, nothing at all.

So, even as the authorities have sent out the best behavior patterns let us promise to do our bit and make this Eid a watershed in the Covid-19 comeback. Try not to crowd, keep the elderly and the immune-compromised secure and most of all, enjoy the togetherness even if there is a physical distancing. It is for our own good and the good of the country. We have already set the example for the rest of the world and now we can display a smart and relevant restraint and still exude reverence, tolerance, love and goodwill without intensifying the risk factor.

So, let's take a quiet and dignified pledge to do it right, to enjoy the ambience of Eid Al Adha, still greet family and friends and share in the bounty but from a distance and prove to the world that as a nation, citizen and expat alike, we do show the way.