Coronavirus: UAE reports 69 Covid-19 cases, 89 recoveries, no deaths

The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention on Wednesday reported 69 cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus, along with 89 recoveries and no deaths.

Over 103.1 million PCR tests have been conducted in the country so far.

The new cases were detected through 355,085 additional tests.

The total number of cases in UAE as on December 8 are 742,507, while total recoveries stand at 737,570. The death toll now stands at 2,149.

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From a high of nearly 4,000 daily Covid-19 cases in the first month of 2021 to less than 50 in the last, the UAE has come a long way in its fight against Covid-19.

A robust vaccination campaign rolled out for free across the country for both Emiratis and expats has seen 100 per cent of eligible residents get at least one dose of a jab. This, along with proactive mass Covid testing and strict safety rules, has helped the country tide over the pandemic, including managing more infectious Covid-19 strains like Delta and Omicron.

However, the latest Covid-19 variant, Omicron, has spread to more than 30 countries across the globe. As a result, many countries have introduced new restrictions for foreign travellers to rein the latest variant.

With UAE being home to nearly 200 nationalities, residents travel to different countries worldwide either for leisure, business or family visits. With the holiday season also around the corner, UAE residents must be aware of new travel restrictions for a smooth travel experience.

Meanwhile, top US scientist Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that while it would take weeks to judge the severity of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, early indications suggested it was not worse than prior strains, and possibly milder.

Speaking to AFP, President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor broke down the knowns and unknowns about Omicron into three major areas: transmissibility, how well it evades immunity from prior infection and vaccines, and severity of illness.

The new variant is “clearly highly transmissible,” very likely more so than Delta, the current dominant global strain, Fauci said.

• Dubai