Coronavirus: UAE records 716 new cases and three deaths as daily tests pass 70,000

More than 71,000 additional tests were carried out, the government said

A medic tests a passenger in the back of a taxi at the drive-through screening centre at Mina Rashid in Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Staff at Dubai's Mina Rashid centre test drivers. Chris Whiteoak / The National

People wait to be tested for Covid-19 at City Walk's drive-through screening centre in Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Drivers queued for at least two hours to be swabbed. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Mina Rashed screening centre manager Dr Mohanna Hasan said most people were getting tested to enter Abu Dhabi or to fly abroad. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The work is difficult in the heat as medics work their way through hundreds of cars. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The UAE recorded 716 new cases of Covid-19 and three further deaths on Saturday.

More than 71,000 additional tests for the coronavirus have been carried out, the government said, the largest single daily number reported to date.

Saturday's figures took the total number of cases to 50,857 and the death toll to 321.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention said 704 patients recovered, taking that total to 39,857.

The number of daily cases has risen from below 400 last week to more than 600 in recent days, though test numbers have risen too.

On Thursday, motorists queued for two hours at drive-through centres in Dubai as they prepared to go on holiday or travel to Abu Dhabi.

Anyone entering the emirate must show police stationed at the border proof they are negative for Covid-19.

Officers need to see text message confirmation from a hospital or a message sent to the Al Hosn app.

The test results must have been given in the past 48 hours and must have been from a hospital in Dubai or the Northern Emirates. Drivers cannot present a test that was carried out in Abu Dhabi.

"Even though it's been a lot busier, we are coping very well as we have a lot of volunteers and outsourced staff," Dr Mohanna Hasan, who manages the Seha-run centre at Mina Rashid, told The National on Thursday.

“While most people want the certificate to be allowed to get to Abu Dhabi, there are also a lot of people who need it to return to their home countries.”