The United Arab Emiratesextended on Saturday to April 5 a nightly curfew to sterilise public places tocombat the coronavirus as neighbouring Qatar reported its first deathfrom the disease.
The UAE's deep clean campaign, beingimplemented between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. each day, began on March 26 and wasoriginally meant to end on the morning of March 29.
"We are all hoping thateverybody, citizens, residents and visitors, will stay at home during thisperiod," Farida Al- Hosani, a health ministry spokeswoman, told a newsconference.
Qatar became the latest Gulf state toreport its first death from the virus, a Bangladeshi resident. The majority ofthe 590 cases in Qatar are among migrant labourers in the country, whereforeigners make up most of the work force.
The Qatar Olympic Committee said onSaturday it had extended a suspension of local sports activities to April 14.
Qatar and the UAE confirmed moreinfections on Saturday to take the total in the six Gulf Arab states to over3,000, with 11 deaths. The UAE has reported two deaths from the pandemicand 468 confirmed infections.
The UAE's de facto ruler, Abu DhabiCrown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, visited a mobile coronavirustesting centre on Saturday and posted on Twitter a picture of himself receivinga nasal swab while in a car.
Dubai, the region's business andtourism hub and a major air transit centre, announced more incentives to shieldits economy, which has been hit hard by global travel disruptions and theclosure of most public venues in the UAE.
Among measures announced by the DubaiFree Zones Council on Saturday were six-month rent waivers, cancellation offines and permitting temporary employee contracts until the end of the year tosupport employment efforts, state news agency WAM said.
