Coronavirus: UAE passes 450,000 Covid-19 cases since outbreak

At least 96 per cent of all cases have ended in recovery

A man receives Covid-19 vaccine at the MBRU a community mobile health clinic near the Al Waha Community on Nad Al Hamar Road in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

Three-year-old Omar Al Mulla gets his saliva tested at the Biogenix lab at G42 in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National

Healthcare workers get sprayed with disinfectants after conducting free PCR test in downtown Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National

A sign asking customers to wear mask is seen in a tailor shop in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National

A hand sanitizer is placed at the newly opened Al Zahia City Centre in Sharjah. Pawan Singh / The National

Seats are blocked inside the family cinema at Al Zahia City Centre in Sharjah. Pawan Singh / The National

Floor signage for social distancing is seen at the Dubai International Humanitarian Aid & Development Conference in Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Pedestrians cross the street in Abu Dhabi on a hazy afternoon. Victor Besa / The National

Commuters get on a bus at Hamdan St. in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National

A man wearing a face mask passes by a store in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

A stoke keeper arranges the flowers at a Hindu flower shop in Bur Dubai. Reem Mohammed / The National

Staff prepare filter coffee at the One Degree Café in Margham area in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

A woman walks on the beach on a hazy sandy day in Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The UAE reported 2,128 new cases of Covid-19 on Friday, surpassing 450,000 total infections.

Authorities said 2,262 patients were cleared of the virus, raising total recoveries to 434,035. This means 96 per cent of all cases ended in recovery.

Six patients died of related complications, taking the death toll to 1,472.

Active cases declined in recent weeks, dropping from 19,539 on March 13 to 15,258 on Friday after more than 10 consecutive days of recoveries exceeding infections.

Friday's cases were detected after another 236,782 tests were carried out across the country. Almost 36.5 million PCR and DPI tests have been conducted nationwide during the outbreak.

New coronavirus infections hovered around the 2,000 mark for several days, but have fallen substantially since January, when daily cases edged towards the 4,000 mark.

The reduction coincided with one of the fastest vaccination programmes in the world.

Authorities last week said they had vaccinated half the country’s population, two weeks before its target date of the end of March.

More than 7.7 million doses have been administered to date, raising the rate of vaccination to 78.6 per 100 people.

Four vaccines are available in the UAE. Sinopharm and Sputnik V are available across the UAE, although the latter is only for emergency use.

Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca are available in Dubai.

In February and March, the UAE carried out a six-week campaign to vaccinate priority groups, including the elderly and people with chronic diseases or a disability.

As of March 21, this was expanded and vaccines are now available to all, with authorities encouraging residents and Emiratis to book appointments at any of the 205 vaccination locations nationwide.

Since then, daily doses adminsitered have risen to 100,000-plus again.