Coronavirus: UAE reports 399 new Covid-19 cases, 316 recoveries

Dubai - More than 6.6m Covid-19 tests have been carried out in the country so far.

The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention on Wednesday reported 399 new cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus, along with 316 recoveries.
The authority also announced one death as a result of the illness. 

The UAE could be at risk of a second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak if residents do not adhere to the strict precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus, a top official has warned. "The pandemic has not ended. If UAE residents do not adhere to preventive measures, we will be on the verge of a second outbreak," Obaid Al Hussan Al Shamsi, director-general of the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority, said earlier this week in an interview on Abu Dhabi TV.

The UAE has witnessed a 10 per cent increase in the number of Covid-19 cases since the beginning of August, taking the percentage of active cases in the past two weeks from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent, Dr Omar Al Hammadi, the official spokesman for the UAE government, announced on Tuesday. However, the percentage of deaths caused by the pandemic remains at 0.5 per cent of the total cases, which is largely thanks to the healthcare and advanced treatment protocol that the UAE provides for those infected, added Dr Hammadi.

Meanwhile, an investigation has been launched following a report that was aired on a UAE television channel about members of a family supposedly dying of Covid-19. The Public Prosecution, in a briefing on Tuesday, said that the report was baseless. "The incident that was broadcast on Abu Dhabi Sports Channel is false and fabricated, the family does not exist and the story is completely fictitious made up," the prosecution said. Two accused working for the channel have been taken into preventive detention, it added. "We are seeking a prosecution and are currently investigating, in order to clarify the situation and elements of what was published and the real motives behind the crime, the entities involved and people behind it," it added.