Coronavirus: UAE reports lowest daily cases in four months

1,572 people diagnosed over 24-hour period

Shop signs in Dubai give instructions to help prevent the spread of Covid-19. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The UAE reported its lowest daily cases of the coronavirus since the start of January on Sunday, with 1,572 people diagnosed and 1,560 recoveries.

It is the lowest number of new infections reported on a single day since January 4.

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

The country has recorded 536,017 cases, 516,329 recoveries and 1,613 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 for bringing down daily infections.

Cases have dropped since reaching close to 4,000 a day in January.

An additional 203,147 tests were conducted over the 24-hour period, bringing to 45,870,572 the total number carried out since the beginning of the outbreak.

On Sunday, the health ministry said 19,045 vaccine doses were administered in the preceding 24 hours. A total of 11,145,934 doses have been given across the country.

Meanwhile, the UAE's ambassador to Britain said he hoped that a decision by the UK not to establish new travel freedoms between the countries on Friday – when it unveiled its traffic light travel system – would be reconsidered at the "next opportunity".

The UK has a green, amber and red set of categories that govern trips abroad and the need to quarantine on return as part of its pandemic response.

The red list conditions, which impose mandatory hotel stays on British and Irish residents coming back to England and exclude all other nationals, keep families separate, said Mansoor Abulhoul, the ambassador of the UAE to the UK.

“The UAE is currently one of the safest countries in the world in relation to Covid-19," Mr Abulhoul said.

"We have the second-fastest vaccination rate, one of the world’s most intensive testing systems, and are combating the spread of concerning variants by restricting entry from high-risk countries.

"We are disappointed by this outcome and hope the UAE’s status will be reconsidered at the next opportunity."