Coronavirus: UAE reports 318 new cases

380 people recovered within a 24-hour period

Residents receive Covid-19 vaccinations at the Seha Drive-Through Service Centre at the Corniche Abu Dhabi.

A nurse gives a vaccine shot at Prime Hospital in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

UAE authorities have urged the public to book their Covid-19 booster shot after they have received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine.

An Abu Dhabi private education staff member has her blood pressure checked before receiving the Covid-19 vaccine.

Hundreds of pupils from Delhi Private School Dubai queue up with their parents to get inoculated. Courtesy: Delhi Private School Dubai

A healthcare worker administers a dose of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination site inside the parking garage of the Guru Nanak Darbar Sikh Temple in Dubai

Shenaz Abdul Salam, 13 gets vaccinated at the Seha Covid-19 Drive-Through Service Centre at the Corniche in Abu Dhabi.

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The UAE reported 318 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, after conducting 318,605 tests.

An additional 380 recoveries were recorded, along with two more deaths.

The country has recorded 733,643 cases and 2,080 deaths since the first Covid-19 case was detected in the Emirates on January 29 last year. Recoveries have reached 725,634.

Daily infections continue to steadily decline due to nationwide testing and tracing, safety measures and a high vaccination rate.

The UAE has carried out more than 81.5 million PCR tests since the pandemic began. There are 5,931 active cases.

More than 80 per cent of the population received a second vaccine dose under the national vaccine and booster campaign.

Meanwhile, the UK is expected to lift restrictions on vaccinated travellers from the UAE shortly.

On October 4, the UAE is to join 17 other countries whose vaccine certificates will be accepted for entry into the UK.

In an exclusive interview with The National, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed the resolution of a “technical issue" that led to the UAE being kept off the list of countries from where vaccinated travellers could enter the UK without mandated isolation.

Mr Shapps said the Emirates had been formerly on the red list “largely because it was a transit location it wasn’t concern about the UAE per se, it was about the transit and the amount of traffic”.

The UK has now decided to use different measures for travellers, if they were in transit or working, according to their country of origin.