The COVID-19 outbreak has already infected more than 1.8 million people globally The move comes after a number of countries failed to respond to their own citizens’ calls to be repatriated DUBAI: The UAE’s labor ministry said it was studying measures to take against countries refusing to cooperate with evacuations of expats from the country amid the coronavirus pandemic, state-run WAM reported on Monday. The COVID-19 outbreak, which has already infected more than 1.8 million people globally, has forced countries into lockdown – raising the issue of stranded expatriates wanting to return to their home countries as strict travel restrictions are enforced. An official at the UAE’s Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization (MoHRE) said it will revise current partnerships with non-cooperative nations, possibly including suspending any memoranda of understanding between the Ministry and the concerned authorities, as well as imposing restrictions or quotas for future recruitment. The move comes after a number of countries failed to respond to their own citizens’ calls to be repatriated, the official said. In other COVID-19 developments, the UAE has confirmed 387 new infections after conducting 22,000 tests among residents over the past days. The total number of cases in the country stood 4,123 early on Monday, with 22 deaths and 680 recoveries.