Covid-19: lowest daily cases in nearly a year as vaccination rates continue to climb

1,127 people recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours

Billboards along Sheikh Zayed Road thanking the Covid vaccine volunteers for the Phase 3 trials conducted in the UAE. Antonie Robertson / The National

A man receives a dose of a vaccine against the coronavirus disease in Dubai. Reuters

People queue for the vaccine near DIFC in Dubai. AFP

The DPI screening centre on the border between Dubai and Abu Dhabi is quick and results are out in a matter of minutes. Antonie Robertson / The National

A woman receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at Zabeel Health Centre in Dubai. EPA

Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara partnered with Tamouh Health Care to provide on-site Sinopharm Vaccination for all residents of the UAE free of charge in February. Pawan Singh / The National

UAE residents receive their vaccine free of charge in February. Pawan Singh / The National

The UAE reported 833 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the lowest daily number since September 28 last year.

In the 24-hour reporting period, 1,127 people recovered from the virus.

Officials said three people died in the past 24 hours from complications.

The country has recorded 726,025 cases, 716,231 recoveries and 2,053 deaths since the first Covid-19 case was detected in the Emirates on January 29 last year.

Widespread testing and tracing, stringent safety measures and a high vaccination rate have been credited with bringing down daily infections.

Daily cases have dropped to below 1,000 recently, after reaching close to 4,000 a day in January.

An additional 282,015 tests were conducted over the 24-hour period, bringing to 77,106,021 the total number carried out since the beginning of the outbreak.

The are currently 7,741 active cases in the UAE.

Latest amendments allow for mosques and other places of worship to accommodate more people, under new rules announced during the weekly Covid-19 briefing on Tuesday.

Dr Saif Al Dhaheri, spokesman for the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority, said mosques will be allowed to reduce the physical distance between worshippers from two metres to 1.5 metres.

He also announced that up to 50 people can attend funerals and mourning services – double the previous number – if the death was not related to Covid-19.