Covid-19: UAE is world's best place to be in pandemic; ranked first for resilience

A global index has ranked the UAE at the very top when it comes to resilience against Covid-19, a government spokesperson announced on Wednesday.

The UAE is No. 1 on Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking for January – the second time it has achieved the top spot in three months. The ranking lists the best and worst places to be in amid the pandemic. It ranks 53 countries on 12 indicators like healthcare quality, virus mortality and reopening travel.

With a resilience score of 78.9, the index has praised the country for the approach it has been following for months: “A combination of almost full vaccination coupled with consistent openness to travel, alongside what has been a smaller Omicron outbreak compared with elsewhere.”

“Ruling out a return to full lockdown, the UAE economy is poised for strong economic growth this year helped by the rebound in oil prices,” the report said.

Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, had last month said the country would never go back to a full lockdown.

"Omicron is way less impactful than Delta. Even during Delta, we hadn't locked down the country (because) balance has been there (between economy and health sectors). Even with futurist variants when it comes to coronavirus, we will not go back to a full lockdown of the country," said Dr Thani had said.

The Bloomberg ranking highlighted how many countries are “determined to live with the virus and reopen their economies” despite the Omicron variant triggering the “biggest global infection wave in Covid-19’s history”.

“Rather than shifting their strategies, nations are settling into more long-term positions in approaching the virus. That’s reflected in our No. 1 for January — the United Arab Emirates — which was also ranked first in November,” the report said.

Addressing a virtual briefing, the government spokesperson acknowledged the ranking and said the UAE’s performance has been the most consistent since the index was launched last year.

The index highlighted the UAE’s high vaccination rates, stating that the vaccine dosage rate per 100 people reached 244.4.

The UAE has administered over 23.6 million vaccine doses, with 100 per cent eligible residents having received at least one dose, and over 94 per cent fully vaccinated.

The index ranked Saudi Arabia second on the list, praising the country’s “high inoculation and a robust economic outlook”.