In an editorial on Monday, a UAE-based English daily welcomed the return of normalcy after COVID-19 in the country. With the launch of the Expo 2020 in Dubai, UAE authorities are ensuring necessary measures to promote growth across key sectors. The post-pandemic return to normalcy is strengthened with the declining cases of COVID-19 infections in the since August 2021. Internationally, other countries are also seeking to reopen their borders for foreign travel.

"Australia, which has had arguably the world's strictest COVID-19 response, is now set to reopen its international border by December, or whenever national vaccination rates hit 80 percent," The National said in its editorial.

The newspaper also hailed the recent breakthrough in the ongoing fight against COVID-19 after American pharmaceutical company Merck announced the development of an experimental antiviral pill that could significantly reduce the chances of death from Coronavirus. The antiviral drug will serve as a paramount support to the strained healthcare systems across the world.

"The world now has a new medicine, one of only very few that fights the virus in its early stages. Most existing drugs are only administered once a patient is in hospital," the paper said.

The daily further affirmed that there are multiple reasons of hope with regards to a new normal in many countries across the world. However, it is also important to note that global deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic have increased to over five million on Friday. In this regard, the newspaper highlighted that while many countries are working on returning to normalcy, it cannot be viewed as a broad global trend.

"To put into perspective the vast scale of this catastrophe, that is just under the global number of people who die from strokes yearly. It is, therefore, offensive and inaccurate to suggest the world in its entirety has arrived at a new normal," the Abu Dhabi-based daily underlined.

According to a report published by the University of Oxford last week, life expectancy last year dropped by the largest number since the World War II. The report added that the decline did not only impact the developing world, but for the United States also the rate has reduced by over two years relative to the previous year.

"While useful to a certain extent, average life expectancy is an imperfect measurement of society's health, often failing to take into account cumulative, year-on-year factors and give a detailed picture about the many unique aspects that affect the health of people in particular countries," the newspaper added.

WAM