Coronavirus: UAE records 1,931 new cases

New Covid-19 cases remain under 2,000 for eighth consecutive day

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 recorded 1,931 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday.

New cases have remained below 2,000 for the eighth day running.

Infections passed the half a million threshold on Tuesday, with the latest cases now bringing the country's overall tally to 502,791.

A further 1,898 people beat the virus, as the recovery total climbed to 485,078.

Two people died from complications arising from Covid-19, to bring the total death toll to 1,561.

The number of active cases in the country rose to 16,152 as the recent trend of daily infections exceeding recoveries continued.

An additional 191,886 tests were conducted.

More than 42.2 million tests have been conducted since the outbreak began.

Mass testing and one of the world's fastest vaccination programmes have been integral to the UAE curbing the pandemic.

Cases have dropped since reaching close to 4,000 a day in January, thanks to effective preventative rules and an efficient vaccination programme.

Authorities on Wednesday administered 111,176 vaccine doses over the past 24 hours, to reach 9.90 million in total. This represents a rate of 100.10 doses per 100 people.

Authorities have called on the public to ensure they are vaccinated to support the country's fight against Covid-19.

"The vaccine is our best means to recover and return to a normal life," said Dr Saif Al Dhaheri, spokesman for the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, at a briefing this week.

Abu Dhabi on Tuesday approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in the emirate.

It is the second Covid-19 vaccine to be made available in Abu Dhabi, which began a mass inoculation campaign in mid-December using a vaccine produced by Chinese company Sinopharm.

Pfizer received emergency approval in the UAE in December after trials showed it was 95 per cent effective. Dubai started distributing it that month.

More than 143.6 million coronavirus infections have been reported across the world since the onset of the outbreak.

Of this number, more than 122 million people have recovered from the virus, while more than three million have died.

The United States has recorded the highest number of infections to date, with cases exceeding 32.5 million.

India - in the grips of a second wave - has the second most infections at more than 15.6 million.