UAE records 977 Covid-19 cases and 1,314 recoveries

More than 285,000 tests were carried out in the 24-hour reporting period

Billboards along Sheikh Zayed Road thanking the Covid vaccine volunteers for the Phase 3 trials conducted in the UAE. Antonie Robertson / The National

A man receives a dose of a vaccine against the coronavirus disease in Dubai. Reuters

People queue for the vaccine near DIFC in Dubai. AFP

The DPI screening centre on the border between Dubai and Abu Dhabi is quick and results are out in a matter of minutes. Antonie Robertson / The National

A woman receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at Zabeel Health Centre in Dubai. EPA

Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara partnered with Tamouh Health Care to provide on-site Sinopharm Vaccination for all residents of the UAE free of charge in February. Pawan Singh / The National

UAE residents receive their vaccine free of charge in February. Pawan Singh / The National

The UAE reported 977 new coronavirus cases and 1,314 recoveries on Monday.

Officials said two people died in the past 24 hours after contracting the virus.

The country has recorded 724,240 cases, 713,835 recoveries and 2,048 deaths since the first Covid-19 case was detected in the Emirates on January 29 last year.

Widespread testing and tracing, stringent safety measures and a high vaccination rate have been credited with bringing down daily infections.

Infection rates have dropped significantly in recent months after hitting a peak of close to 4,000 cases a day in January.

Daily case numbers have remained below 1,000 for 14 consecutive days.

An additional 285,614 tests were conducted over the 24-hour period, raising the number carried out since the start of the outbreak to above 76.5 million.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi has updated its green list of countries and territories from where travellers can enter the emirate without the need to quarantine on arrival, regardless of their vaccination status.

Indonesia has been added in the latest update, which is effective from Monday, September 6.

Last week, Abu Dhabi removed the requirement to quarantine on arrival for vaccinated travellers from all international destinations.

Abu Dhabi Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Committee said at the time that all travellers must present a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours of departure.