COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Denmark has temporarily suspended all flights from the United Arab Emirates for five days after it was suspected that the coronavirus tests that can be obtained before leaving Dubai are not reliable, authorities made Friday known.
The development, which is taking place amid a wave of infections in the UAE, directly challenges the massive testing regime that had been the pillar of the coronavirus response and the country’s economic reopening. Dubai was one of the world’s first destinations to open up to tourists, welcoming visitors from all over with only a coronavirus test.
Danish Transport Minister Benny Engelbrecht said the decision has been made to have the matter thoroughly investigated and to ensure that the tests are carried out correctly.
“We cannot ignore such a suspicion,” Engelbrecht said, adding that the ban came into effect on Thursday evening.
The Danish authorities were faced with a “concrete and serious citizen inquiry into” how the tests are being conducted at Dubai’s entry and exit points, he said, and “therefore we need to be absolutely sure that there are no problems.”
Engelbrecht said at least “one citizen” had brought the South African variant of the virus “back from Dubai.” He did not identify that person further. Dubai has seen the population of South Africa increase as the country’s economy has deteriorated in recent years.
Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet said on Friday that there has been a second report of allegedly shoddy virus testing in Dubai, citing Engelbrecht as “the information appears accurate and valid”.
Since January 9, Denmark has required all passengers arriving in the Nordic country to have a negative coronavirus test or proof that they have recently had COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, to limit the spread of the virus.
The UAE State Department did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment on the flight suspension and the suspicions surrounding the virus tests.
On January 8, Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommended all travel abroad, including business trips. On Tuesday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told the local media that “there is a reason why we really ask everyone not to travel. It is really important that everyone listens. “
“There is a risk that (virus) mutations will come to Denmark,” she said. “It can undermine our epidemic control and infect others and what’s worse.”
In recent days, several Danish celebrities, socialites and influencers – such as former boxer Mikkel Kessler, former football international Nicklas Bendtner and table tennis topper Michael Maze – have traveled to Dubai and posted photos of themselves on social media.
Lea Hvidt Kessler, the wife of the former Super Middleweight World Champion, wrote on Instagram that no one in their family who traveled to Dubai for Christmas was infected. According to media in Denmark, there are currently 85 Danish citizens and approximately 800 permanent Danish residents in Dubai.
On Friday, as the UAE smashed its 11th consecutive daily infection record with 3,552 new cases, Dubai’s state-run media agency announced strict new limits for weddings, social events and private parties starting next Wednesday, limiting all gatherings to 10 immediate family members . Wedding parties at hotels and other locations were previously limited to 200.
Dubai also announced an immediate halt to all “entertainment” activities on boats and floating restaurants – a popular pastime in the city. Tourists and celebrities often flaunt their vacations on social media, posting photos of raucous, champagne-soaked hunts that have been splashed across tabloids in recent weeks. A day earlier, Dubai halted all live bands and performances at nightclubs and bars in the city after hospitals were forced to interrupt non-emergency operations to accommodate the influx of new COVID-19 patients.
Tourists have flocked to Dubai in recent weeks despite the raging pandemic, escaping lockdowns at home. The gleaming city-state, with an economy largely based on tourism, aviation and retail, has promoted itself as an ideal pandemic vacation destination. Aside from the ubiquitous hand sanitizer masks and dispensers, there is a sense of pre-pandemic normality in the busy bars, huge shopping malls and luxury hotels.
The sky-high daily infections, which have nearly tripled since November, failed to strike the norm, even as more contagious variants of the coronavirus swept around the world. The UK, which, like Denmark, sent throngs of reality TV and sports stars to Dubai, closed its travel corridor with the UAE earlier this month.
Since the start of the pandemic, the UAE has based their coronavirus response on an ‘early detection strategy’, using coronavirus testing kits made in China to embark on one of the world’s best testing campaigns at a time when other countries struggled to develop and PCR tests. On Friday, the country of about 9 million had conducted about 24.2 million coronavirus tests.
The United States Department of State has previously expressed concern about Chinese test material was not correct without providing evidence about the claim.
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Isabel DeBre, Associated Press writer in Dubai, UAE, contributed to this report.