The UAE reported 1,578 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday - the highest number of daily infections across the country to date. They brought the country's total infections since January to 120,710 of which 113,364 have recovered since 1,550 more people were cleared of the virus. Another two patients died of complications related to Covid-19, raising the death toll to 474. The number of people currently battling the virus in the Emirates stands at 6,872. Thursday's new cases were detected after 114,483 more tests were conducted. The UAE has carried out more than 12.1m coronavirus tests since the outbreak – making it one of the top countries to test per capita. Though this month has seen the highest number of daily infections reported, the number of active cases has been steadily decreasing since October 4 – indicating that recoveries are also on the rise. Almost 94 per cent of the UAE's total cases have ended in recovery while about 0.4 per cent have ended in death. On Thursday, Dubai Economy inspectors visited 1,567 businesses in Hor Al Anz and fined three of them because their employees were not wearing face masks or adhering to physical distancing measures. Ten others were warned from breaking Covid-19 safety regulations, namely not placing physical distancing stickers on the ground to prompt the public to stay two metres apart. This week, health authorities said they anticipated an increase in cases locally as countries began to resume economic activities. During the country's weekly Covid-19 briefing, Dr Farida Al Hosani, a director of the Department of Health Abu Dhabi, said the vaccine would be crucial to stemming the spread of the virus. She said the vaccine would prevent new infections and stop the dangerous effects of the virus on patients. "The noticeable increase in the number of infections in the country is not an exception, and it is part of an increase in most countries," she said, adding that this was part of a "global pattern of trying to gradually return to normal life and the return of activities in various sectors". Two vaccines are being trialled in the UAE. The first was developed by Sinopharm and tested on tens of thousands of volunteers in a Phase 3 clinical trial. And the second is Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, which is due to begin trials in the Emirates.
