The UAE reported its highest number of daily coronavirus cases for six months on Wednesday as authorities announced new rules for schools and Expo 2020 Dubai warned of temporary closures of some attractions.
The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) reported 2,234 infections, the highest mark since June 26 when the country saw 2,286 cases.
In a statement carried by state news agency WAM, MoHAP said it conducted 448,050 Covid-19 tests over the past 24 hours, with the 2,234 new cases bringing the total number of recorded cases in the UAE to 757,145.
No further Covid-19-related deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, with the total number of deaths in the country remaining at 2,160.
MoHAP also noted that an additional 775 individuals had fully recovered from Covid-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 743,340.
The latest figures come less than a month after the UAE announced it had discovered its first case of the highly transmittable Omicrom variant of the virus.
The country boasts one of the highest vaccination rates in the world – 100 percent of the population has received the first dose of the vaccine, and 91.80 percent are fully vaccinated, according to Dr Noura Al Ghaithi, spokesperson for the UAE Health Sector.
In a statement the ministry said its aim was to “continue expanding the scope of testing nationwide to facilitate the early detection of coronavirus cases and carry out the necessary treatment”.
During this week’s UAE Government media briefing on the pandemic, Al Ghaithi said the country is fully prepared and medical teams “are braced for all possible scenarios”.
She also stressed the importance of receiving the Covid booster shot. “These national efforts are continuing the series of proactive steps taken by the country since the onset of the pandemic, and all federal and local sectors have performed their proactive role in implementing procedures and strategies in record time across all areas in terms of early response, monitoring, treatment, follow-up, clinical trials and scientific development,” she added.
Abu Dhabi earlier announced that all schools in the emirate will adopt remote learning for the first two weeks of the new term but authorities in Dubai will continue with face-to-face lessons, albeit with increased restrictions in place.
The Abu Dhabi Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Committee, in coordination with Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge, revealed the plans for all students at both public and private schools in the emirate, including training institutes, colleges and universities to further protect health and safety of education community.
Testing for staff will be increased with a view to returning to in-school learning.
However, Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) said that private schools will continue to have regular face-to-face learning in the second semester, although collective classroom and extracurricular activities will be discontinued, while canteens will be closed for the first two weeks and gatherings and school trips will be suspended.
Earlier this week, organisers of Expo 2020 Dubai warned that some venues might need to close temporarily as the mega event ramps up measures to protect visitors from the recent rise in coronavirus cases.
Despite the impact of the pandemic, visits to Expo 2020 Dubai have continued to climb substantially, increasing to 8,067,012 in the period up to December 27.
But organisers cautioned that venues may also close temporarily for deep cleaning and sanitisation in response to positive cases detected by extensive workforce testing protocols, as well as for maintenance, private events and staff shortages.
Expo’s stringent Covid-19 safety measures include mandatory mask-wearing indoors and outdoors for visitors, as well as all staff and participants.
The largest major global event to be held since the start of the pandemic, Expo 2020’s Covid-19 measures also include the expansion of the number of on-site PCR testing facilities to four and free testing for all country pavilion staff.
While all frontline workers and entertainers continue to be tested on a regular basis, some close contact events, such as parades and roving entertainers, have been temporarily suspended as a short-term precautionary measure.
With more than 90 percent of the UAE population fully vaccinated, Expo 2020 Dubai has required mandatory vaccination and boosters of all Expo and international participant staff, volunteers, contractors and service providers.
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