Coronavirus: UAE records 148 new cases and no deaths

A further 92 people recover over 24-hour reporting period

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The UAE reported 148 new coronavirus cases and 92 recoveries on Wednesday.

Officials said that no one had died in the past 24 hours as a result of Covid-19 complications.

The country has recorded 743,152 cases, 738,141 recoveries and 2,151 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 are credited for bringing down daily infections.

Case numbers have dropped since reaching close to 4,000 a day in January.

An additional 340,100 tests were conducted over the 24-hour period, bringing to 105 million the total number carried out since the beginning of the outbreak.

More than 22 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the past year.

In the US, meanwhile, California is bringing back a rule requiring people to wear masks indoors, a move aimed at containing the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus as people gather with family and friends during the holidays.

Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration announced the new mandate will start on Wednesday and last until January 15. The order comes as the per capita rate of new coronavirus cases in California jumped 47 per cent in the past two weeks.

Updated: December 15, 2021, 11:24 AM