Abu Dhabi to pay complete housing allowance to govt employees living in the emirate

Abu Dhabi, Jan 17: With the number of Covid-19 cases in the country hitting a record high of 3,432 on Saturday, Abu Dhabi has once again tightened norms for entering the emirate.

The Abu Dhabi Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Committee has updated procedures to enter Abu Dhabi from within the country, effective from Sunday, 17 January, as part of the proactive efforts and precautionary measures to contain and eliminate the spread of Covid-19. pic.twitter.com/MIkfqUEDZg

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From Sunday, stringent measures followed till the last week of December will be implemented in the emirate, the Abu Dhabi Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Committee for the Covid-19 Pandemic said on Saturday. But there is reprieve in travel restrictions for people who are fully vaccinated or volunteers of the Phase 3 clinical trials.

This latest development is announced following the number of Covid-19 cases increasing consistently this month and remaining more than 3,200 for the past four days.

Taking precautionary measures, from Sunday, a person needs to enter the emirate of Abu Dhabi within 48 hours of receiving a negative PCR or DPI test result instead of 72 hours, which was in place from December 24.

Also, a person needs to take mandatory PCR tests on day four of entry for those staying for four days or more, and on day eight of entry for those staying for eight days or more. The day of entry into Abu Dhabi is counted as day one. Since December 24, a person entering Abu Dhabi had to take only one additional PCR test on the sixth day.

The procedures apply to all citizens and residents, including Abu Dhabi residents, except for those vaccinated as part of national vaccination programmes and volunteers of the Phase 3 Clinical Trials who have received status (letter ‘E’ or gold star) on their Al Hosn app. According to the last available information, till January 10 some 250,000 people have received the second dose.

Meanwhile, the committee has urged community members to continue their cooperation and commitment to follow preventive and precautionary measures.

Those who fail to follow the procedures are liable for fines.

Jerusalem, Jan 17: At least 13 people in Israel have suffered mild facial paralysis as a side-effect post Coronavirus vaccination, WION reported. The Health Ministry said that the actual number of people suffering such side effects could be higher than reported. Also Read - Coronavirus Found on Ice Cream in Chinese City, Thousands of Boxes Seized

Experts are now apprehensive of giving the second dose of the shot to these people, even though the health ministry has insisted on giving the jab once the paralysis heals. Also Read - AIIMS Worker Suffers Allergic Reaction After Receiving Coronavirus Vaccine, Admitted to ICU

“For at least 28 hours I walked around with it (facial paralysis),” one person told Ynet. “I can’t say it was completely gone afterwards, but other than that I had no other pains, except a minor pain where the injection was but there was nothing beyond that.” Also Read - Vaccination Against COVID-19 Begins in India, Bailey Bridge on Jammu-Srinagar Highway Opens After 1 Week: Top Headlines at This Hour

Israel began its Covid-19 vaccination drive on December 20, 2020. About 72 per cent of those aged 60 and over have already been vaccinated.

In an similar incident which was reported last month, four volunteers who were given Pfizer vaccine shots during the trial stage had developed Bell’s Palsy in the UK. Notably, Bell’s palsy is a medical condition that causes one half of the face to droop. This led to Britain’s medicines regulator issuing a warning for people with “significant” history of allergic reactions to medicines, food or vaccines to not have the Pfizer/BioNTech jabs.

Recently, 23 elderly people died in Norway, shortly after receiving the Pfizer’s mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine. The country launched a mass vaccination campaign at the end of December 2019, with the very oldest citizens and residents of nursing homes being offered vaccination first, including those over the age of 85.

The Norwegian Medicines Agency on its website said that 13 of the 23 people who died had shown common side effects of mRNA vaccines such as diarrhea, nausea and fever.

Washington, Jan 13: The FBI has opened more than 160 investigations against the January 6 Capitol Hill rioters, officials said, and asserted this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The agency has worked hand-in-hand with the United States Attorney's Office and law enforcement partners in DC and across the country to arrest and charge multiple individuals who took part in last week's breach of the US Capitol, FBI Washington Field Office Assistant Director In-Charge Steven M D'Antuono told reporters at a news conference.

"In six days, we have opened over 160 case files, and that's just the tip of the iceberg," he said, adding the FBI has received more than 100,000 pieces of digital media.

D'Antuono said the FBI will be knocking on the doors of the people who participated in the attack on the Capitol. "But before we do this, this is your opportunity to come forward as several individuals involved in Wednesday's riots have done," he added.

In the weeks leading up to the January 6 rally, the FBI, D'Antuono said, developed some intelligence that a number of individuals were planning to travel to the DC area with intentions to cause violence.

This was immediately shared and action was taken as demonstrated by the arrest of Enrique Tario by the Metropolitan Police Department the night before the rally, he said.

Other individuals were identified in other parts of the country and their travel subsequently disrupted, D'Antuono noted.

Acting US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Michael Sherwin, said the scope and scale of the investigation in these cases are really unprecedented not only in FBI history but also probably in the history of the Department of Justice in which the Capitol grounds outside and inside are essentially crime scenes.

"And a scale in which we have literally thousands of potential witnesses and a scenario in which we are going to have, I believe, hundreds of criminal cases both filed with our local courts, our superior courts, and through the federal court system," he said, noting this is going to be a long-term investigation.

Sherwin said as many as 170 cases of investigations have already been opened. "And I anticipate that's going to grow to the hundreds in the coming weeks," he said.

Federal prosecutors, he said, are looking at everything from simple trespass to theft of mail and digital devices inside the Capitol to assault on local and federal officers, both outside and inside the Capitol, and also theft of potential national security information or national defence information, felony murder and even civil rights excessive force investigations.

Sherwin said that two pipe bombs were found outside the RNC and the DNC offices near the Capitol grounds. "They were real devices. They had explosive ignitors. They had timers. We don't know exactly why they did not go off. That's being investigated. They were destroyed, disabled by Capitol Police with the assistance of the ATF, and that is all obviously being vetted and investigated," he said.

The FBI has announced a reward of USD 5,000 for any information leading to identification of the individual or individuals that left the pipe bombs.