Coronavirus: UAE records 800 new cases

Another 776 people recovered over a 24-hour period

Al Wahda Mall security staff check the Al Hosn app of visitors at the entrance. All photos: Victor Besa / The National

The UAE has passed the 1 million mark for Covid-19 cases.

More than 184 million tests have been conducted to date.

The UAE is the 68th country to exceed 1 million infections, data shows.

Case numbers in the Emirates have declined in recent weeks after a surge in infection rates in June.

Mass screening and an extensive vaccination strategy have been key to efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

There have been more than 590 million cases across the world.

Stay-at-home measures and deep-cleaning operations were introduced in the early stages of the outbreak.

Offices and schools were closed as a precautionary measure and flights were grounded when the coronavirus first broke out in early 2020.

Authorities introduced physical distancing and made the wearing of face masks in public mandatory.

Safety measures have been gradually eased in recent months to support a return to normality.

The UAE reported 800 new coronavirus cases and 776 recoveries on Saturday.

Officials said no one died from complications in the 24-hour reporting period.

The UAE has recorded 1,003,929 cases, 982,660 recoveries and 2,339 deaths since the first case was detected 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 226,570 tests were conducted over the 24-hour period, bringing to the total number carried out since the beginning of the outbreak to more than 180 million.

Elsewhere, a hacker claims to have obtained the personal information of 48.5 million users of a coronavirus health mobile app run by the city of Shanghai, the second claim of a breach of the Chinese financial centre's data in a little more than a month.

The hacker, using the username “XJP”, posted an offer to sell the data for $4,000 on Breach Forums on Wednesday.

The person provided a sample of the data including the phone numbers, names, identification numbers and health code status of 47 people.

Eleven of the 47 contacted by Reuters confirmed they had been listed in the sample, although two said their identification numbers were wrong. Reuters was unable to further verify the authenticity of the hacker's claim.