Coronavirus: UAE reports 266 Covid-19 cases, 118 recoveries, no deaths

The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention on Saturday reported 266 cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus, along with 118 recoveries and no deaths.

Over 106.2 million PCR tests have been conducted in the country so far.

The new cases were detected through 235,367 additional tests.

The total number of cases in UAE as on December 18 are 743,852, while total recoveries stand at 738,505. The death toll now stands at 2,151.

ALSO READ:

• Covid-19: Eight new Omicron cases found in Maharashtra

• Tidal wave: Omicron could put US Covid-19 surge into overdrive

The risk of reinfection with the Omicron coronavirus variant is more than five times higher and it has shown no sign of being milder than Delta, a study by Imperial College London showed, as cases soar across Europe and threaten year-end festivities.

The results were based on UK Health Security Agency and National Health Service data on people who tested positive for Covid-19 in a PCR test in England between November 29 and December 11.

"We find no evidence (for both risk of hospitalisation attendance and symptom status) of Omicron having different severity from Delta," the study said, although it noted that data on hospitalisations remains very limited.

Additionally, Pfizer Inc on Friday forecast that the Covid-19 pandemic would not be behind us until 2024 and said a lower-dose version of its vaccine for 2 to 4-year-olds generated a weaker immune response than expected, potentially delaying authorization.

Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten said in a presentation to investors that the company expects some regions to continue to see pandemic levels of Covid-19 cases over the next year or two. Other countries will transition to "endemic" with low, manageable caseloads during that same time period.

By 2024, the disease should be endemic around the globe, the company projected.

In the wake of the new variant, Nepal on Saturday made two weeks quarantine mandatory for travellers arriving from 67 different countries, mainly from European and African countries, in the wake of the rising Omicron variant of coronavirus.

“Passengers, travelling from the countries mentioned, are requested to stay in Hotel Quarantine for 7 days at their own expense. After staying seven days in Hotel Quarantine, in case of a negative test of Covid-19 by RT-PCR method, it is requested to stay in the home quarantine for additional 7 days and send the person with a positive result to the designated isolation center or hospital,”Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.

• Dubai