Genomic epidemiology and emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in the United Arab Emirates.

Since the declaration of SARS-CoV-2 outbreak as a pandemic, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) public health authorities have adopted strict measures to reduce transmission as early as March 2020. As a result of these measures, flight suspension, nationwide RT-PCR and surveillance of viral sequences were extensively implemented. This study aims to characterize the epidemiology, transmission pattern, and emergence of variants of concerns (VOCs) and variants of interests (VOIs) of SARS-CoV-2 in the UAE, followed by the investigation of mutations associated with hospitalized cases. A total of 1274 samples were collected and sequenced from all seven emirates between the period of 25 April 2020 to 15 February 2021. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated multiple introductions of SARS-CoV-2 into the UAE in the early pandemic, followed by a local spread of root clades (A, B, B.1 and B.1.1). As the international flight resumed, the frequencies of VOCs surged indicating the January peak of positive cases. We observed that the hospitalized cases were significantly associated with the presence of B.1.1.7 (p < 0.001), B.1.351 (p < 0.001) and A.23.1 (p = 0.009). Deceased cases are more likely to occur in the presence of B.1.351 (p < 0.001) and A.23.1 (p = 0.022). Logistic and ridge regression showed that 51 mutations are significantly associated with hospitalized cases with the highest proportion originated from S and ORF1a genes (31% and 29% respectively). Our study provides an epidemiological insight of the emergence of VOCs and VOIs following the borders reopening and worldwide travels. It provides reassurance that hospitalization is markedly more associated with the presence of VOCs. This study can contribute to understand the global transmission of SARS-CoV-2 variants.

COVID-19 in the Gulf Cooperation Council Member States: An Evidence of Effective Response.

OBJECTIVES: The World Health Organization (WHO) published a global strategic response plan in February 2020 aiming to mitigate the impact of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. It identified immediate activities required for global preparedness and response to the outbreak and set eight priority areas (pillars) essential for scaling up countries' operational readiness and response. Despite a semi-annual progress report on implementing the Global Strategic Plan in June 2020, there is limited granular information available on the extent of the national plan's content and implementation, particularly in the Member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Therefore, we sought to review the preparedness and responsiveness towards the COVID-19 outbreak in the GCC in the first phase of the pandemic and to document lessons learned for improving the ongoing response efforts and preparedness for future pandemics. METHODS: A rapid appraisal was conducted in June 2020 according to the WHO Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan and the accompanying Operational Planning Guidelines. The survey was administered to public health professionals or/and infectious disease experts in the states. The findings were cross-triangulated with secondary data that was publicly available for each country. RESULTS: The preparedness and response efforts of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE were fully compliant with all 11 (100%) pillars of the modified strategic response measures. Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar complied with eight of the pillars. The component on conducting COVID-19 related research was the lowest-performing across all the six states. CONCLUSIONS: All GCC states demonstrated an effective response to the pandemic, enhanced existing infrastructures, and accelerated reforms that would have otherwise taken longer. The lessons learned through the early phase of the pandemic continue to steer the states in realigning their strategies and resetting their goals of controlling the outbreak, particularly in the current context of vaccine introduction and increasing preparedness capacities for future pandemics.

Change in the Apparent Order at Different Temperatures and Catalyst Volumes: Hydrodesulfurization of KEC-AR.

This paper tackles the effect of reaction temperature on the apparent order of the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) reactions of an atmospheric residue (KEC-AR) derived from Kuwait Export Crude (KEC). Testing was carried out using a pilot plant consisting of five identical fixed-bed reactors arranged in series. A moderate-HDS-activity catalyst was used under a 120 bar (total) operating pressure, a feed flow rate of 120 mL per hour (mL/h), and a hydrogen-to-feed ratio of 1000 mL/mL. The liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) varied by 4.0, 2.0, 1.0, 0.5, and 0.25 relative to the catalyst accumulative volumes in the five reactors. Testing was conducted between 360 and 420 °C with a temperature increase of 10 °C each time. Product samples were collected between the reactors using customized inter-reactor sampling systems that operate under the pilot plant's total pressure. The results showed that the HDS apparent order decreases with an increase in reaction temperature. The order dropped from 4.9 at 360 °C to 1.62 at 420 °C. Using the least-squares method (LSM), we demonstrated that the apparent overall orders are aggregates of several first-order reactions occurring consecutively at different rates and dependent on sulfur total disappearance. On the other hand, we showed that the apparent overall orders are aggregates of several reactions of different orders occurring simultaneously and independently of sulfur total disappearance. The first-order reactions' activation energy was found to be 22.1 kcal/mol and in total agreement with that reported in the literature for the sulfur removal from KEC-AR.