Dubai Health Authority deploys mobile testing unit to serve densely populated areas of the city. Wam
Dubai Health Authority deploys mobile testing unit to serve densely populated areas of the city. Wam
Dubai Health Authority deploys mobile testing unit to serve densely populated areas of the city. Wam
Dubai Health Authority deploys mobile testing unit to serve densely populated areas of the city. Wam

Coronavirus: DHA's new mobile testing unit can screen up to 1,000 labourers a day


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A mobile Covid-19 testing unit has been launched in Dubai and can screen up to 1,000 people a day, the health authority announced.

The “highly-sophisticated” testing bus will serve densely populated areas in the city, including labour accommodation sites.

It will also be accessible to people who are unable to visit health centres, such as the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions.

Humaid Al Qutami, director general of the Dubai Health Authority, said the deployment of the mobile unit throughout the city would help to "increase screening capacity and contain the spread of the virus".

The bus can screen up to 1,000 people a day
The bus can screen up to 1,000 people a day

"The expansion and acceleration of medical examinations, particularly in high-density areas and workers' residences, has contributed significantly to reducing the transmission of Covid-19 and helped us boost quarantine operations and treatment for patients,” he said.

The bus has been designed to ensure both medical staff and patients can practice safe social distancing, with on board isolation units in place.

It has also been fitted with an internal and external sterilisation system.

A handful of staff and health professionals will man the bus at any one time to help carry out administration work, swab checks and temperature checks on individuals.

Patients undergoing screening will be required to fill out a registration process and present their Emirates ID.

The mobile unit, designed and manufactured by Naffco, can move around residential areas easily and will safeguard medical staff from potential infection thanks to a number of high-tech features on board.

In March, health authorities in the northern emirates rolled out a mass Covid-19 screening programme to serve up to 200,000 labourers.

Checks were and continue to be carried out at labour accommodation and workplaces in Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, Ajman and Sharjah, as part of measures to contain the virus.

The screenings involved checks on temperature, respiratory rate, pulse and blood pressure

and was issued under the direction of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.

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What are NFTs?

Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.

You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”

However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Nepotism is the name of the game

Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.