, Donna Sese is bracing for a very different surge: countless restaurant bookings and metre-long drink bills.
A year later, mass vaccination has left Dubai feeling like it's off the hook. There have been vanishingly few virus hospitalisations and deaths — even as the threat of Omicron looms and daily infections surged over 660 on Wednesday after lows of under 100 for weeks.While many Western countries have seen inoculation rates plateau, the UAE reports 99 per cent of all of those eligible for vaccines — anyone over 12 — has received at least one dose.
Market analysts have attributed the hot streak to a pause in villa construction and influx of Western European, Chinese and Indian financiers drawn to glittery Dubai's open offices, high vaccination and low tax rates. In its latest move as competition heats up with neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the UAE will change its work week from Sunday-Thursday to Monday-Friday to align with the West.Hotel occupancy in Dubai exceeded 90 per cent in mid-November, according to data firm STR. Long-haul carrier Emirates estimated over 1.1 million passengers would squeeze through its Dubai terminal ahead of the holidays.Traffic during the first week of December surpassed 2019 levels, according to navigation company TomTom.
For those not locked up in their bedrooms, or assassinated, or murdered by their western backed campaign into stealing Yemen
Meanwhile in Australia, the banks have changed their policies and loaning criteria, essentially locking out most people from ever owning their own home. High vaccination rates do not automatically equal rights, freedoms or opportunities.