(Bloomberg) –The United Arab Emirates rolled out a slew of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus — from suspending flights, shutting malls to adding more firepower to its stimulus package.
The Civil Aviation Authority said late Sunday it will halt all inbound and outbound passenger flights for two weeks from March 25. Before the announcement, Emirates, the world’s largest long-haul airline, said it will suspend nearly all of its passenger operations this week.
The second-biggest Arab economy also boosted the size of its stimulus package by $4.4 billion to $34 billion. Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which are part of the U.A.E., have announced separate measures to deal with the impact of the disease, which has infected 153 people in the Gulf nation and killed two.
More Developments:
- The U.A.E. will close malls and allow restaurants to only deliver food.
- Dubai decided to delay one of the world’s richest horse races. The event was scheduled to take place on March 28.
- Neighboring Saudi Arabia imposed a partial curfew in the kingdom for 21 days. The oil-rich nation has reported 511 cases.
- Qatar will grant the Gaza strip $150 million over the next six months to help efforts in fighting the pandemic.
- Egypt’s central bank will provide 20 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) to support the stock market
