Dubai - MoHAP reported 930 new cases on Thursday, highest in four months.
By Ismail Sebugwaawo, Saman Haziq
Published: Fri 11 Sep 2020, 6:52 PM
The UAE on Thursday reported 930 new cases of the novel coronavirus Covid-19, making it the highest number of new infections - fivefold - recorded in four months. This brings the total number of confirmed infections in the country to 76,911.
In a special media briefing on Thursday, Dr Farida Al Hosani, spokeswoman for the UAE health sector, said the daily cases are the highest in four months and that five people in the country died in the past 24 hours raising the virus-related death toll to 398. She also announced 586 recoveries.
Dr. Hosani said there has been a five-fold increase increase in the number of new Covid-19 cases since August 10 when the country recorded 179 cases, adding that 88% of the cases detected were a result of gatherings, including parties, condolences, work and breaking the quarantine protocol.
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Giving important statistics regarding the new covid cases, Dr Hosani said: "62 per cent of all infected people are males, and 38 per cent are females; 12 per cent of cases and infections during the past two weeks were from people who had returned from abroad who failed to abide by the 14-day quarantine period rule since they had negative results in the country of departure.
"Ten per cent of the cases were detected from the mandatory tests carried out on administrative and educational staff in schools, parents and students who chose to return to schools for in-class learning within the framework of the Ministry of Education plan prior to reopening of schools."
Why the surge in cases?
Among the factors associated with the spike in the number of cases, Dr Hosani said : "Some of the factors that led to this sudden surge in Covid cases include leniency in preventive measures such as physical distancing and wearing masks, failure of some malls and shops to take precautionary measures, such as taking temperature of customers, capping the maximum number of people who could enter the centre. We also observed that some individuals ignore their Covid symptoms, and continued to mix with others."
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She added that 'leniency and complacency' by several private educational institutions in the country and their failure to implement isolation measures, despite the safety measures set by the Ministry of Education, added to the surge in cases.
14-day quarantine must if you come in contact with Covid patient
Dr Hosani said supervision, inspection and accountability for those violating the preventive measures will be tightened, and fines will be applied to those who are found flouting safety measures.
For every person in contact with a positive case, an approved quarantine protocol must be applied.
"Everyone who gets into contact with an infected person must undergo the approved quarantine protocol. They should not rely on the negative test result that they might receive following the detection of the case as an excuse for them to return to their normal life. The incubation period for the virus may last up to 14 days, and only after a negative test result on the 14th day of contact can a person exit the quarantine period."
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