Coronavirus: UAE reports 237 new cases from 298,981 tests

People get tested for coronavirus at the Mina Rashid screening centre in Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, health authorities have called upon citizens and residents to join with the efforts of health care professionals. Health workers, such as these Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, have led the way. Reem Mohammed / The National

Healthcare workers at the emergency ward in Sheikh Khalifa Medical City. The President, Sheikh Khalifa, has paid tribute to the frontline workers who helped to curb Covid-19. Reem Mohammed / The National

Healthcare workers at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City receive a patient outside the emergency department. Reem Mohammed / The National

A consultant physician at the emergency department in Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, receives a Covid-19 patient. Reem Mohammed / The National

People get the laser blood test tests at the Mina Rashid screening centre in Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

A nurse sanitises her hands after conducting a swab test at one of the UAE's screening drive-through centres in Mina Rashid, Dubai. Victor Besa / The National

A health worker taking the Covid-19 nasal swab test at a testing station in thet Mall of the Emirates in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

Nurse Renu Venugopal, who contracted Covid-19, recovered and continued to treat patients at Al Zahra Hospital, Sharjah. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Ruth Deva Kiruba says being pregnant during a pandemic was surreal and sometimes lonely. Chris Whiteoak / The National

EMT nurse Jephy Antony, who contracted Covid-19, recovered and continued to treat patients at the NMC Royal Hospital, DIP, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

A visitor gets tested at the Ras Al Khaimah Covid-19 drive-through testing centre. Reem Mohammed / The National

Nurse Nikhil Rajendran inside the fever clinic at the Bareen International Hospital in Mohamed Bin Zayed City in Abu Dhabi. Pawan Singh / The National

Shane Simeon Galang from Philippines, Mervat Aslan Mhgoub Mohamed from Egypt and Sowmya Kotian from India, who are nurses at the Bareen International Hospital in Mohamed bin Zayed City in Abu Dhabi. Pawan Singh / The National

The UAE reported 237 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday after a further 298,981 tests were carried out.

The new cases bring the tally of infections to 894,523.

No deaths have been reported since March 7 and the toll remained at 2,302.

Another 486 people beat the virus, taking the tally of recoveries to 875,602.

Daily case numbers have dropped significantly in recent months after topping 3,000 in January following the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Despite the decline in infection rates, authorities have warned the public against complacency and urged them to follow social-distancing rules and to wear face masks in closed spaces.

Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology, on Monday said the coronavirus pandemic was “far from over” and called for faster action in providing poor and war-torn countries with vaccines.

Ms Al Amiri told the UN Security Council that only about a tenth of people in strife-ridden nations had received Covid-19 vaccines, and in some hotspots less than 1 per cent of the population had been inoculated.

Meanwhile, South African scientists have discovered two new sublineages of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

They have been named BA.4 and BA.5 but have not caused a surge in infections and have been found in samples from a number of countries, said Tulio de Oliveira, who runs the gene-sequencing institutions in the country.

South Africa and Botswana were the first to discover Omicron in November and the former was the first country to be hit by a wave of infections caused by the strain.

But the number of deaths and people requiring hospital treatment were a fraction of those caused by the Delta variant, even as daily cases hit a record high in December.