Web Report
The UAE authorities conducted more than 24,000 tests in the last 24-hour to detect the new COVID-19, or coronavirus, cases in the country and found 477 new cases.
The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention on Friday announced 93 recoveries in the country in addition to two deaths.
This brings the total number of cases diagnosed in the country to 6,302, while there have been 1,188 recoveries and 37 deaths so far.
To detect cases early, the UAE has opened 14 drive-through testing facilities that can screen hundreds of people daily without them having any direct contact with healthcare workers. The health authorities said up to 7,100 people can be tested every day with the new drive-through testing facilities established across the country.
The country now has the capacity to conduct 10,000 tests daily, including at hospitals and out-patient clinics.
Meanwhile, UAE has also started clinical trials of plasma therapy for treatment of Covid-19. Their effectiveness is being researched, and the UAE is keen to further look into studies and treatments around the world.
In a bid to combat the spread of coronavirus, several precautionary measures were put in place in the UAE, including the #StayHome initiative, a nationwide sanitisation drive, guidelines for proper hygiene in homes and workplaces, among others.
Among the latest steps taken by the UAE government is that all residency visas, entry permits and Emirates IDs will remain valid until the end of 2020.
Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah have also announced restriction on movement of workers to and from other emirates.
Dubai’s Covid-19 Command and Control Center has also announced the UAE’s first full genome sequencing of the Covid-19 virus. The successful sequencing of the virus from a patient in Dubai was performed by researchers at the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU).
