People must stay at home and traffic would be restricted during these times.

The UAE launched a massive disinfection campaign on Thursday evening to rid the country of the coronavirus causing Covid-19, even as the number of global cases closed in on the half-million mark. The UAE campaign, called the National Disinfection Program, will continue on Friday and Saturday, at the same times, from 8pm-6am.

People must stay at home and traffic would be restricted during these times.

Public transport like the Dubai Metro and buses will not ply during these hours.

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The Ministry of Interior said people will be allowed to go out during the day and normal traffic would be allowed before the night curfews set in.

Retail food outlets such as cooperative societies, supermarkets, grocery stores and pharmacies will remain open 24/7. The public will continue to have access to them even during the period of movement restrictions during the disinfection.

Meanwhile, the number of global coronavirus infections crossed 500,000, with both Italy and the U.S. on track to surpass China, and a record-shattering 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in a single week in a stark demonstration of the damage to the world's biggest economy.