The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) has permitted the owners and managers of recreational and entertainment play halls inside and outside commercial centres and malls in the emirate of Abu Dhabi to re-establish their activities and open them to the public. This is in accordance with specific instructions and requirements that protect the health and safety of members of the community, in line with the directives of The Abu Dhabi Emergency Crisis and Disasters Committee for Covid-19 Pandemic
The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) has permitted the owners and managers of recreational and entertainment play halls inside and outside commercial centres and malls in the emirate of Abu Dhabi to re-establish their activities and open them to the public. This is in accordance with specific instructions and requirements that protect the health and safety of members of the community, in line with the directives of The Abu Dhabi Emergency Crisis and Disasters Committee for Covid-19 Pandemic
The announcement was made by ADDED after it had issued a circular suspending these act.ivities as a precautionary and preventive measure to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. This was one of a number of circulars that directed the implementation of temporary closures of various commercial activities.
H.E. Rashed Abdul Karim Al Balooshi, Undersecretary of ADDED, said that this announcement falls within the procedures and circulars recently issued by ADDED for the return and resumption of economic activities in the emirate of Abu Dhabi in accordance with specific rules and guidelines that must be implemented and followed in order to preserve the security, health, and safety of all members of the community.
His Excellency stressed the Department's keenness to resume all economic and commercial activities in the emirate of Abu Dhabi and return to previous operating levels, prior to the COVID-19 crisis. This aims to contribute to strengthening the business sector and re-establishing its activity, while the safety and security of the community remains a priority for the government of the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
He added, "The restoration of amusement and entertainment centres, and electronic gaming venues represent an important step towards revitalising the community and the gathering areas of the members of the Abu Dhabi community and providing safe and entertaining means to enhance the public's confidence to return to recreational and tourism activities."
His Excellency the Undersecretary of ADDED also stated: “We are keen to emphasise the application of all precautionary and preventive measures and controls that allow the restoration of all economic, recreational and service activities to the public, which requires the collaboration and cooperation of the business sector and members of society, and their full commitment to the conditions and controls that are set. We hope that the reopening of recreational and entertainment play halls will proceed smoothly like all other activities that have been successfully reopened.”
ADDED specified, in detail, in its circulars to the owners and managers of recreational and entertainment play halls, the various precautionary measures and controls; the most important of which is to adhere to the daily and periodic sterilisation procedures, to make hand sanitizers available in all public spaces and payment points, and to disinfect all children’s games and equipment. These include the seats, handles, seat belts, game buttons, and others, in addition to sterilising all places that are in direct contact with children's hands and using effective disinfectants after each use.
In its circular, ADDED stressed the need for all workers in these halls to undergo a COVID-19 examination and not start working before making sure that they are all free from any infections. The staff must wash their hands periodically and take into account appropriate social distancing between workers and visitors by at least 2 meters, as well as using signs set on the ground to indicate the necessity of physical distancing, measuring the temperatures of all workers periodically during the day, and committing to wearing masks and gloves at all times, and changing them periodically during the day. They should also be trained to implement and apply precautionary measures.
The Department directed hall owners to ensure that their workers encourage the visitors to pay using the contactless features to avoid the transmission of infection through contact, to measure visitor temperatures before entering the halls located outside the commercial centres, and to deny entry to any visitor if they show any symptoms of COVID-19, while also preventing visitors who do not adhere to wearing masks from entering the premises.
The Department detailed out the procedures and controls specific to the areas and games that use plastic balls, as it indicated that the children's game dedicated to plastic balls should not exceed 30% of the total game capacity, with deep sterilization of the place of plastic balls games once every hour and at the beginning and end of the working day. In addition to taking all the protective measures used inside the hall, represented by the plastic head mask, the presence of hand and elbows protection pads, knee protection pads, and belts inside the games, with the need to be sterilized after each use.