Coronavirus: UAE records 280 cases

Another 259 people recovered over a 24-hour period

The UAE continues to distribute vaccines at a rapid pace. AFP

Dubai residents waiting to receive their first dose of Sinopharm's Covid-19 vaccine in Jebel Ali. Pawan Singh / The National

The Emirates Group launched a Covid-19 vaccination programme for staff in the UAE in January. Photo: The Emirates Group

Khalifa bin Dary, executive director of Dubai Ambulance Services Corporation, receives his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: Dubai Media Office

Abdullah Al Falasi, director general of Dubai Government Human Resources Department, receives his first dose. Photo: Dubai Media Office

A billboard on Sheikh Zayed Road thanks volunteers for the Covid-19 vaccine trials being conducted in the UAE. Antonie Robertson / The National

A woman receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at Zabeel Health Centre. EPA

The UAE reported 280 new coronavirus cases and 259 recoveries on Tuesday.

No coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in more than 9 weeks. The toll remains at 2,302.

The country has recorded 900,764 cases, 884,771 recoveries since the first Covid-19 case was detected in the Emirates on January 29, 2020.

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 2021.

An additional 366,233 tests were conducted over the 24-hour period, bringing the total number carried out since the beginning of the outbreak to more than 157 million.

Meanwhile, a fourth Covid-19 vaccination has been found to give people protection “over and above” that experienced by people who have had three inoculations, a study suggests.

Academics led by the University of Southampton have been monitoring people’s levels of antibodies and T-cells, both of which offer an accurate measure of a person’s level of protection against a virus.

The CovBoost trial also examined side-effects after a fourth shot.

Boosts were also seen in the cellular level, according to the study, which has been published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.