The Dubai Mall reopened with fever test and mask

The Dubai Mall reopened with fever test and mask

Dubai: Holding bags from designer boutiques in their hands, consumers return to the Dubai Mall, one of the world's largest shopping malls, which has reopened amid tight security against the corona virus.

At main entrance where customers hand over their sports cars and luxury SUVs for parking, employees greet them with black T-shirts reading "Welcome Back".

When they smile, pointing an infrared thermometer "temperature gun" on visitors' foreheads, they check for fever, a key symptom of COVID-19 infection.

The Dubai Mall is a major attraction of the city state that has become a hub for mega-projects and diversified economies, as well as tourism and shopping, wealth and global reputation for finance and real estate.

With more than 1,300 stores built around a vast lake and overlooked by the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower, the Dubai Mall allures around 80 million visitors a year, reopened on Tuesday. It was a symbolic move when the country emerged from the lockdown

After a month-long closure, crowds have been far thinner as emigrants in jeans and Emiratis in traditional white Gulf robes roam the bright alleys that exhibit everything, elegant and expensive.

"This shows that the fight against the virus is progressing and that life will soon return to normal," a 21-year-old Emirati student Jamal said. His neatly-trimmed beard partially obscured by a blue surgical mask.

The United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a member, has registered more than 11,000 cases of the corona virus and nearly 100 deaths, and restrictions have been relaxed, although the number of new infections continues to rise daily.

For weeks, only grocery stores and pharmacies continued to operate, but the UAE has now allowed malls, restaurants and even hair salons to reopen under social distance rules.

Thermal cameras installed on the roofs around the Dubai Mall record the temperature of passers by.

Children between the ages of three and 12 and people over 60 or in high-risk group are not allowed.

Safety masks are a must-have for staff to wear in both clothing stores as well as high-end European designer boutiques.

Najla Boujellal who works for the mall's owners Emaar hoped the normal flow of 250,000 visitors a day would gradually complete.

Tourism is the lifeblood of Dubai's economy, and in 2019 it welcomed more than 16 million foreign visitors, aiming for 20 million this year before the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed global travel.

Dubai's head of tourism, Hilal al-Marri, told Bloomberg TV this week that the UAE could resume international tourism "in July" after having put a stop to arrival in March.