Coronavirus: UAE records 2,013 new cases and 2,240 recoveries

Officials also announced five deaths in the past 24 hours

A health worker pauses in the ICU unit for Covid-19 patients at the Hospital das Clinicas in Porto Alegre, Brazil. AP Photo

Railway staff carry out lateral flow covid tests on colleagues in a temporary testing facility on a converted train parked on platform eight of Brighton railway station in Brighton, England. Getty Images

Health care workers help move a patient during transport from an overwhelmed hospital in Ceska Lipa to the hospital in Semily, in the Czech Republic. With a population of 10.7 million and about 1.4 million coronavirus cases to date, the Czech Republic has the highest per capita infection rate in the world. The death rate from Covid-19 is at 24,000 persons. Getty Images

A worker in a hazmat suit disinfects a street as a preventive measure against the spread of coronavirus disease at a village in Manila, Philippines. Reuters

Fernando, 8, runs during a day of online classes inside his house, as Mexico marks one year anniversary of homeschooling after the schools closed due to the coronavirus disease pandemic in Mexico City, Mexico. Reuters

Prime Minister Jean Castex, 55-years-old, reacts as he is vaccinated with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at the Hopital d’Instruction des Armees Begin, in Saint-Mande, on the outskirts of Paris. AFP

Nurse Marcicleia Gomes cares for her brother, nursing technician Marcio Moraes, 43, who is infected with Covid-19, at his home in Manaus, Brazil. Moraes' daughters Laura and Lais had to ration oxygen to make a tank last longer as they transferred him to a hospital, crashing on the way. After he was discharged due to lack of space, another eight family members began to show symptoms, forcing his sister, nurse Marcicleia Gomes, 39, to quit her job in Brasilia to permanently assist them. According to Lais, “it has been an endless war for about 30 days”. AFP

Parisians arrive to catch trains leaving from the Gare Montparnasse serving the west and southwest of France, in Paris. Parisians packed inter-city trains leaving the capital on March 19, 2021, hours ahead of a new lockdown in the French capital. AFP

A prisoner receives the Sinovac coronavirus disease vaccine during a campaign to vaccinate prisoners at the Unit four of the Santiago Vazquez prision in Montevideo, Uruguay. Reuters

French contemporary artist JR jumps in front of his art installation on the facade of Strozzi Palace titled 'La Ferita (The Wound)', and showing an optical illusion of a black and white interior of the elegant Renaissance palace, as the artist efforts to make a statement on accessibility to culture in the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) era, in Florence, Italy. Reuters

The UAE recorded 2,013 Covid-19 infections on Saturday, as recoveries continue to outpace new cases.

These latest numbers took the tally of infections since the outbreak of the pandemic to 438,638.

A further 2,240 people recovered, bringing the overall number of people who have beaten the virus to 420,736.

Five people died, taking the death toll to 1,433 in the Emirates.

An additional 240,035 Covid-19 tests were carried out over a 24-hour period.

Mass testing and widespread inoculation are central to the country's attempts to control the virus.

Authorities on Saturday said 56,910 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were given in the past 24 hours. So far, 7,181,056 vaccine doses have been administered.

In Abu Dhabi, a high-tech laboratory has joined the nation's campaign to get school pupils back into classrooms across the country.

Biogenix Labs in Masdar City, operated by G42 Healthcare, is conducting saliva tests on children aged between four and 12.

The test is less invasive than the PCR method as it merely requires a person to spit into a cup.

More than 10,000 pupils in Abu Dhabi have already taken the test since a screening drive was launched in December.

Biogenix Labs said teams were always striving to improve the testing process.

The samples can stay overnight on a shelf and can be stored in a fridge for a week.

Children and elderly residents, who can also take the saliva test, are asked to not eat or drink for half an hour to 45 minutes before taking the test.