Coronavirus: UAE announces 479 new cases, 98 recoveries
The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention on Sunday announced 479 new cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus as well as 98 recoveries. As many as 23,000 new coronavirus tests have also been conducted, the ministry added.
The ministry also announced the death of four patients.
With this, the total number of cases in the country now stand at 6,781, with 1,286 total recoveries and 41 deaths in total.
After the success of the initial round of the nationwide sterilisation campaign, Dubai on Friday announced an extension of the campaign for another week.
To detect cases early and curb the spread of the coronavirus, the UAE has opened 14 drive-through testing facilities that can screen hundreds of people daily without them having any direct contact with healthcare workers. The health authorities said up to 7,100 people can be tested every day with the new drive-through testing facilities established across the country.
The country now has the capacity to conduct 10,000 tests daily, including at hospitals and out-patient clinics.
Meanwhile, UAE has also started clinical trials of plasma therapy for treatment of Covid-19. Their effectiveness is being researched, and the UAE is keen to further look into studies and treatments around the world.
In a bid to combat the spread of coronavirus, several precautionary measures were put in place in the UAE, including the #StayHome initiative, a nationwide sanitisation drive, guidelines for proper hygiene in homes and workplaces, among others.
Among the latest steps taken by the UAE government is that all residency visas, entry permits and Emirates IDs will remain valid until the end of 2020.
Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah have also announced restriction on movement of workers to and from other emirates.
Dubai’s Covid-19 Command and Control Center has also announced the UAE’s first full genome sequencing of the Covid-19 virus. The successful sequencing of the virus from a patient in Dubai was performed by researchers at the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU).