Coronavirus: 564 new cases and one death recorded in UAE

The UAE reported 564 new coronavirus cases and 650 recoveries on Thursday.

Officials said one person died in the past 24 hours from complications.

The country has recorded 731,307 cases, 722,723 recoveries and 2,069 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 for bringing down daily infections.

Cases have dropped since reaching close to 4,000 a day in January, and have recently remained consistently under 1,000 per day.

An additional 275,823 tests were conducted over the 24-hour period, bringing to 79,589,959 the total number carried out since the beginning of the outbreak.

Active cases currently stand at 6,515.

Meanwhile, officials at Expo 2020 Dubai have announced safety protocols for the six-month event.

Visitors must show they have received a coronavirus vaccine or had a recent PCR test to enter the site when it opens.

The expo delivery authority on Wednesday issued new Covid-19 guidelines for visitors to the event before its opening on October 1.

Visitors will be required to present proof of any vaccine recognised by their own national government or a negative PCR test taken within the previous 72 hours.

Non-vaccinated ticket-holders who have not been tested within the 72-hour period can test at the PCR testing facility adjacent to the Expo 2020 site.

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The alternatives

• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.

• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.

• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.

• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.

• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.