1st September 2021 Covid status

So, we are back in the sandpit, and time for another monthly report on what's been going on here in the past few weeks regarding Covid. There has been quite a few things happening since last month.

To start, Sweden was put on the Red List at the end of July, only to fortunately end up back on the Green List in the middle of August, in perfect timing for our return - thank you very much.
Operating capacities of some activities have been increased, and the nighttime curfew ended in the middle of August after having been in place for about a month. Glad we didn't need to worry about that either.

Prices of PCR-tests have been reduced from 65 AED to 50 AED (118 SEK) as of yesterday. Take that Sweden! Our pre-travel PCR-tests before returning were 423 AED (995 SEK) - each! And that was only because we were willing to make a 4 hour round trip to Göteborg (it's cheaper in the three big cities, Stockholm, Malmö and Göteborg), otherwise we would have had to pay the double..! Crazy!

The biggest new change while we were gone were the new entrance rules implemented all over Abu Dhabi from the 20th of August. To be able to visit museums, shopping malls, tourist attractions, parks, beaches, hotels - or even go to school (if you are 16 and over) you now have to be fully vaccinated. Luckily, we are.
BUT, since it's been more than 6 months and we had the Sinopharm vaccine, we now do need a booster shot to be considered fully vaccinated. Lucas had his booster yesterday and Nathan has an appointment coming up through work. Me on the other hand, haven't been able to get an appointment until October, which will be two weeks after the grace period is over. One step forward, two steps back.

In good news, this month we saw the daily infections dip, and stay under 1000 for a 7 day average for the first time in 11 months. Finally!

Here are the UAE numbers from today:
* 985 new cases discovered from 259,569 tests.
* 2 people passed away. Total death toll in the UAE is 2,043. Globally it's now close to 4,7M.
* Over 87% of the UAE population have received their first dose of the vaccine, over 76% have received both their doses.