Expo 2020 Dubai Logs Over 7 Million Visitors Since Start, Takes New COVID Precautions

More than 7 million people have visited Expo 2020 Dubai since it opened nearly three months ago. In addition, the major global event has had more than 31 million virtual visitors through a dedicated website and app offering virtual tours, according to the official Emirates News Agency, WAM. Some 190 countries are participating in the $7 billion expo, which is running for six months and is the largest global event to be held since the start of the pandemic. Some 25 million guests are expected at the event in Dubai over the course of its run. Expo 2020 Dubai has required mandatory vaccination and boosters for all expo participants, staff, volunteers, contractors and service providers. The expo has ramped up its measures against the coronavirus due to the omicron variant, including expanding the number of on-site PCR testing facilities to four and providing free testing for the staff of all country pavilions. The expo announced on Monday that it has temporarily suspended daily parades and roving entertainers as “a short-term precautionary measure” due to the virus.  A series of live concerts to be held in the outdoor Dubai Millennium Amphitheatre remains scheduled, however. The world expo is held in a different country every five years.