A tourist takes photos of Emirates Towers from the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, December 23, 2018. (Reuters)

Coronavirus in UAE: Abu Dhabi launches cleanliness certification for tourism sector

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Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English

Published: 19 May ,2020: 10:58 PM GST Updated: 20 May ,2020: 10:54 AM GST

Abu Dhabi launched on Tuesday a “safe and clean certification program” to regulate the cleanliness and hygiene standards of all businesses and facilities in the tourism sector, as part of the government’s efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

“As hotels, malls and other attractions in Abu Dhabi prepare to cautiously re-welcome guests to their venues, the Department of Culture and Tourism [in] Abu Dhabi aims to safeguard the health and wellbeing of consumers by offering certifications that ensure the compliance of standardized hygiene levels in tourism destinations and industry businesses within the emirate,” state news agency WAM reported.

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The certification program will be rolled out in phases. The first phase will target hotels in Abu Dhabi, with tourism attractions and businesses to follow.

The program is the latest addition to a series of announcements in preparation to ease precautionary measures.

Abu Dhabi’s Department of Economic Development had issued on Thursday guidelines to allow businesses to re-open and for employees to resume workplace attendance.

It also detailed guidelines for the wholesale and retail sector, the construction, manufacturing, utilities sectors, the transportation sector, the financial services sector and the hospitality and restaurants sector.

The preventative health and safety guidelines in the workplace, issued by @AbuDhabiDED has set the criteria for low-risk employees who are eligible to go back to the workplace. pic.twitter.com/kKjHsaJt44
— مكتب أبوظبي الإعلامي (@admediaoffice) May 17, 2020