Coronavirus: UAE reports 289 new cases from 46,000 tests

One Covid-19 patient died and 469 people recovered, officials said on Saturday

Public health measures remain in place as the UAE continues to seek to limit the spread of Covid-19. AP    

The UAE reported 289 new cases of Covid-19 on Saturday, taking the total number of infections since the outbreak began to 56,711.

Health officials said 469 people had recovered and that one patient had died.

More than 46,000 tests were carried out in the last 24 hours.

More than 7,400 Covid-19 cases remain active in the Emirates while more than 4.4 million tests have been carried out.

A total of 338 people in the Emirates have now died, while globally the figure is more than 599,000. About 48,900 people with Covid-19 in the UAE have recovered.

Earlier, Emirati officials said 5,000 people in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain had signed up to take part in a clinical trial for a Covid-19 vaccine.

The UAE trial is a partnership between Sinopharm, a Chinese vaccine manufacturer, Abu Dhabi-based AI and cloud computing company Group 42 and Abu Dhabi's health department.

The UAE was chosen as it is home to about 200 nationalities. The effect of a potential vaccine on multiple ethnic groups is an important part of its development.

It is hoped 15,000 people in the Emirates will eventually be part of the three-to-six month process.

Also on Saturday, scientists at King's College London said six distinct types of coronavirus have been identified, shedding greater light on the nature of Covid-19 and its effect on patients.

Scientists used artificial intelligence software to identify "clusters" of symptoms and ranked them in order of severity, the Telegraph reported. Headache and loss of smell are common to all six groupings.

They found that patients with the sixth type of Covid-19 are nearly 10 times more likely to end up needing breathing support than patients in the first group.

They used data from 1,600 users of its symptom tracker app in the UK and US who had confirmed cases. The resulting algorithm was then tested on a further 1,000 users in those countries as well as Sweden.