Coronavirus: UAE Central Bank asks employees to work from home

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the UAE Central Bank (CBUAE) has said that it has begun asking its employees to work remotely from home as well as repurpose large internal and external meetings with virtual meetings as means to contain the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, which was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Read: WHO declares Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic as cases outside China soar

The statement added that staff at CBUAE branches dealing with cash have been asked to strictly adhere to sanitisation procedures and communication with companies that transport cash, and to ensure that all cash is handled with gloves and not bare hands.

Read: UAE confirms 15 more coronavirus cases; total count at 74

The central bank has also set up a committee which is communicating with banks on procedures to ensure continuity of banking and proper preventive measures are undertaken by all banks in the country.

It said that banks should be ready to have sufficient cash loaded at their ATMs and available at their branches.

The banks have also been asked to keep customers updated should there be a change in branch hours or closures.

Also, all banks are asked to ensure that their digital channels are equipped to handle any increased volumes of usage should people prefer to use those channels rather than visit a branch.

Mubarak Rashed Al Mansoori, governor of the Central Bank of the UAE, said: “We are closely monitoring the development of the Covid-19 outbreak and working with banks and other stakeholders to provide appropriate assistance as necessary to support the economy and minimize adverse impact on financial stability and economic growth.”

The number of coronavirus cases in the UAE now stands at 74, including 15 new cases which were confirmed on Tuesday.