UAE reports 111 new coronavirus cases from 300,887 tests

Another 191 people recovered in the past 24 hours

The UAE reported 111 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, taking the total number of infections to 737,766.

Another 191 people beat the virus, with overall recoveries at 731,113.

The death toll now stands at 2,113 after no deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.

The country has conducted 86,969,853 PCR tests since the beginning of the outbreak after an additional 300,887 tests were carried out in the 24-hour reporting period.

There are 4,540 active cases in the Emirates.

Daily infections have fallen in recent weeks and travel and social distancing rules are being relaxed as the UAE cautiously returns to normal.

According to The National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, 95.39 per cent of the UAE population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, with 85.15 per cent fully immunised.

Officials said 20,453,897 vaccine doses have been administered since December last year, when the country embarked on a nationwide vaccination campaign.

Recently, the country authorised the emergency use of booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Sputnik vaccines for some groups.

Booster shots are to be given six months after the second dose.

The groups that should take a booster shot are senior citizens and residents aged over 60; people with chronic diseases, or at risk of complications (aged 50-59); and people receiving long-term health care (aged 18 years and over).

In global developments, scientists in Japan have developed a vaccination approach that could lead to protection against several coronaviruses – not only Sars-CoV-2, the one that causes Covid-19.

Experts at Osaka University said they engineered antibodies that prevented Sars-CoV-1, which causes sudden acute respiratory syndrome, and three viruses found in pangolins and bats.

Their strategy, described in a newly published paper in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, involved genetically engineering proteins from Sars-CoV-2.

Updated: October 10, 2021, 10:08 AM