We all have distinct memories of the onset of the pandemic five years ago.
The first Covid-19 case in the UAE was confirmed at the end of January 2020, but at that time it was possible to think that this would be a temporary bump in the road rather than a full-blown global crisis. How quickly times changed.
By the beginning of March 2020, however, UAE schools took an early spring break as a precautionary measure designed to contain the spread of the virus and were then required to switch to distance learning. On March 11, the World Health Organisation declared it a pandemic. By the end of the month five years ago, a nationwide disinfection campaign had begun and our everyday routines had changed. Somewhere in between those calendar points, it became clear that we were moving into exceptional times.
The rest of the opening phase of what was then termed the “coronavirus” crisis exists for me as a patchwork of non-linear moments: the last day in the newsroom before we switched fully to WFH protocols, the beautiful spring weather that provided the backdrop to those first few days of confusion as we sat at home and the compulsive viewing that the regular TV briefings provided about what was happening across the country.
There were evenings playing board games with family and visits to supermarkets and pharmacies, which felt like incredible and challenging adventures at the time. There were fluffed Zoom calls and also moments of great connection. There were health scares and pockets of personal sadness. This was a period filled with the most visceral and prosaic moments.
Our horizons shrank a little more each time the crisis grew bigger. Each piece of news or updated policy requirement seemed more consequential than the last. Every development took us further towards a so-called “new normal”.
The UAE’s considered approach to the pandemic placed it in the top tier of global resilience indices
What was to become clear later was that the relative universality of experience of the first phase of the pandemic – with its silent streets and stay-at-home orders – stood in marked contrast to how the virus applied itself to each of us.
Some who contracted the virus will have experienced few symptoms, others faced a catastrophic set of circumstances. There may be many who are still dealing with “long” Covid. Some global communities suffered near overwhelming moments of dark tragedy, others were relatively untouched.
Despite the story of Covid-19 being largely told through statistics, caseloads and dashboards, it was a human crisis at heart – and a markedly uneven one.
There was also much to be thankful for, of course. The UAE’s considered approach to the pandemic placed it in the top tier of global resilience indices. The national response was to roll out a comprehensive vaccine programme with a regular testing regimen and combine it with a tech-based response aimed at providing clarity and certainty for citizens and residents.
More generally, this five-year anniversary is a reminder of how quickly memories fade from such consequential times. Most of the infrastructure of the pandemic response is no longer there. Even the vocabulary of the pandemic seems distant and in decline now. Not just new normals, but the complex discussion of new variants arriving in intense and unexpected waves, as well as the requirements for self-isolation, quarantine periods, booster shots, testing regimens and so on.
Occasionally in the back of a drawer at home, I may come across an unopened pack of face masks, which were our constant companions until February 2022, when mandates were initially relaxed. Ever more infrequently, I might still chance upon one of the last reminders of that era: a sticker or a sign in a public space that encourages social distancing. The temporary tents where we used to queue to have a PCR test were disassembled long ago and the dusty lots on to which they were imposed have become just that again.
Many of us will have speculated back then about what would be left behind after the big shock of 2020 and concluded that it would be most things, yet the anecdotal evidence above suggests a different conclusion. A recent piece of commentary in the Financial Times ran with the headline “The pandemic that didn’t change the world”, ranking it well below era-defining moments such as the fall of the Soviet Union and the election of Donald Trump and reminding readers that all times are transient.
A further review might deliver another interpretation. The signposts and structure of the pandemic may have receded, but the pandemic’s legacy is still all around us.
On an individual level, our lives have been thoroughly rewired. While social distancing is no longer a phrase used regularly, spontaneity may be in shorter measure. The pandemic has also made us more aware of self-care and of mental health.
That period may have also fast-tracked our fixation with a world lived on screens. The habits and practices we all formed in the first phase of the pandemic of relentless checking, scrolling and living through digital means have calcified into regular routines with potentially dangerous consequences.
More broadly, the unpredictability and unevenness of the pandemic have set the geopolitical agenda for the entire decade. Global politics are shifting at a far quicker pace than ever before. Notions of isolationism may also have their roots in 2020.
The legacy of five years ago will be with us for years to come.
If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Seattle from Dh5,555 return, including taxes.
The car
Hertz offers compact car rental from about $300 (Dh1,100) per week, including taxes. Emirates Skywards members can earn points on their car hire through Hertz.
The national park
Entry to Mount Rainier National Park costs $30 for one vehicle and passengers for up to seven days. Accommodation can be booked through mtrainierguestservices.com. Prices vary according to season. Rooms at the Holiday Inn Yakima cost from $125 per night, excluding breakfast.
Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
Kandahar%20
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MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- Margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars
- Energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- Infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes
- Many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
Factfile on Garbine Muguruza:
Name: Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
World ranking: 15 (will rise to 5 on Monday)
Date of birth: October 8, 1993
Place of birth: Caracas, Venezuela
Place of residence: Geneva, Switzerland
Height: 6ft (1.82m)
Career singles titles: 4
Grand Slam titles: 2 (French Open 2016, Wimbledon 2017)
Career prize money: $13,928,719
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Match info
Manchester City 3 (Jesus 22', 50', Sterling 69')
Everton 1 (Calvert-Lewin 65')
Previous men's records
- 2:01:39: Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) on 16/9/19 in Berlin
- 2:02:57: Dennis Kimetto (KEN) on 28/09/2014 in Berlin
- 2:03:23: Wilson Kipsang (KEN) on 29/09/2013 in Berlin
- 2:03:38: Patrick Makau (KEN) on 25/09/2011 in Berlin
- 2:03:59: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) on 28/09/2008 in Berlin
- 2:04:26: Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) on 30/09/2007 in Berlin
- 2:04:55: Paul Tergat (KEN) on 28/09/2003 in Berlin
- 2:05:38: Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 14/04/2002 in London
- 2:05:42: Khalid Khannouchi (USA) 24/10/1999 in Chicago
- 2:06:05: Ronaldo da Costa (BRA) 20/09/1998 in Berlin
How England have scored their set-piece goals in Russia
Three Penalties
v Panama, Group Stage (Harry Kane)
v Panama, Group Stage (Kane)
v Colombia, Last 16 (Kane)
Four Corners
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via John Stones header, from Ashley Young corner)
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via Harry Maguire header, from Kieran Trippier corner)
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, header, from Trippier corner)
v Sweden, Quarter-Final (Maguire, header, from Young corner)
One Free-Kick
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, via Jordan Henderson, Kane header, and Raheem Sterling, from Tripper free-kick)
TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
States of Passion by Nihad Sirees,
Pushkin Press
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UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne (vc), Subha Srinivasan, NIsha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Heena Hotchandani, Keveesha Kumari, Judith Cleetus, Chavi Bhatt, Namita D’Souza.
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Match info
Premier League
Manchester United 2 (Martial 30', Lingard 69')
Arsenal 2 (Mustafi 26', Rojo 68' OG)
