Dubai eases up on restrictions, kids and elderly can visit shopping malls

Libraries, museums and art galleries can also open, along with outdoor tourism and fitness activities.

People over the age of 60 and children under the age of 12 will be allowed to visit malls and other public places while strictly following precautionary measures.

Children under the age of 12 in Dubai and adults over 60 will be allowed to visit shopping malls and other public places, as the emirate continues to gradually open up from its enforced Covid-19 lockdown.

Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management has revealed that the relaxation has been permitted provided strict precautionary measures are followed, including wearing face masks, maintaining social distancing of two metres and avoiding crowded areas.

However, Dr Amna Al Dhakak, spokesperson for the UAE health sector, stressed that these particular easing of restrictions applied only to Dubai.

She said: “Adults up to the age of 70 can enter malls, but the lower age limit of children under 12 is still in force for other emirates.”

Services resumed

Services and activities that will be resumed include public libraries; private museums and art galleries; home services such as those providing healthcare services to elderly people and people of determination; home beauty services, and elective surgical procedures lasting more than two and a half hours.

Other activities and facilities that have been allowed to resume include: outdoor tourism and fitness activities such as camping; swimming pools, fitness centres, water sports, water parks, interactive water activities, 3D and 4D cinema halls and children’s sports and play areas at public parks and beaches.

Authorities have stressed that the relaxation depends heavily on the compliance of the public to the stringent health and safety guidelines and warned that inspections will continue across offices, shopping malls and various outlets, with those violating the measures subject to fines.

The UAE currently has 43,364 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic, while 295 people have so far lost their lives at the hands of Covid-19.