Back to school: mass testing across Abu Dhabi ahead of first day of term

Families queued for PCR tests from early morning, while in Ajman authorities made the last-minute decision that all pupils must be tested before Sunday

Perla Mansour, 4, takes a saliva test before the start of the new school term. All photos: Victor Besa / The National

Mohammed Al Suwaidi gets a swab test in Abu Dhabi as part of the new back-to-school rules.

Many parents have taken their children to Biogenix Labs in Masdar City to take PCR or saliva tests.

The Mansour family from Egypt attended a clinic in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday to get their oldest child tested for Covid-19 before returning to school next week.

Health workers keep the mood cheery for young pupils getting tested.

Special queues have been sectioned off at clinics across Abu Dhabi for school pupils who need to get tested.

Khalifa Al Nahdi, 4, queues for a test.

Pupils will need to show a negative nasal PCR or saliva test result taken within 96 hours before they can return to in-person classes next week.

Health workers hold up some of the many samples taken from school pupils.

A young Abu Dhabi resident gives a saliva sample.

Mohammed Al Bisher, 6, takes a saliva test.

More than a million pupils will return to school in the UAE after the summer break.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic outside Biogenix Labs in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi.

Parents take their children to Biogenix Labs in Masdar City to take PCR tests.

Tens of thousands of pupils underwent PCR tests across Abu Dhabi on Friday ahead of the new school term on Sunday.

Families queued at drive throughs and walk-in coronavirus screening centres across the capital.

Lengthy lines were seen throughout the morning but appeared to have shortened by early afternoon. Friday was expected to be one of the busiest days of testing to date.

All private school pupils in Abu Dhabi must take a coronavirus test ahead of the new school year, the authorities said on Wednesday.

The decision affects all vaccinated and unvaccinated pupils, who will need to show a negative nasal PCR or saliva test result taken within 96 hours before they can return to in-person classes.

Each of the emirates now have separate rules for school, and there are different rules for government schools as well.

On Friday - with just two days to go before school resumes - private schools in Ajman told parents that the authorities now require all pupils to have a negative PCR result to return on Sunday.

Here are the separate back to school rules for:

Dubai

Sharjah

Abu Dhabi