Coronavirus: Dubai's daily capacity increases as three more centres open for Dh150 PCRs

The sites will operate seven days a week from 11am to 6pm

A medic tests a passenger in the back of a taxi at the drive-through screening centre at Mina Rashid in Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Staff at Dubai's Mina Rashid centre test drivers. Chris Whiteoak / The National

People wait to be tested for Covid-19 at City Walk's drive-through screening centre in Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Drivers queued for at least two hours to be swabbed. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Mina Rashed screening centre manager Dr Mohanna Hasan said most people were getting tested to enter Abu Dhabi or to fly abroad. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The work is difficult in the heat as medics work their way through hundreds of cars. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Dubai has increased its daily testing capacity by 1650 after three more centres opened there.

The three sites, at Al Rashidiya Majlis, Al Hamriya Port Majlis and Jumeirah 1 Port Majlis, will offer polymerase chain reaction nasal swab tests (PCR) for Dh150 after Dubai Health Authority (DHA) revised its pricing structure.

Dubai now has five sites dedicated to testing for the coronavirus. The others are at Al Shabab Al Ahli and Al Nasr clubs.

“The new centres were prepared in record time,” said Dr Farida Al Khaja, chief executive of DHA’s clinical support services and nursing sector.

“They will operate seven days a week from 11am to 6pm, with a capacity of 550 examinations per day at each centre.

“The DHA is working continuously to combat the global pandemic and provide the highest levels of health security for the community.

“This is done through preventive steps, including the expansion of laboratory Covid-19 testing.”

The DHA increased capacity with the help of public and private hospitals.

The emirate can now test more than 78,000 people daily.

The UAE reported 995 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday.

Authorities said 1,076 patients were cleared of the virus, taking the total number of recoveries to 82,538.

The infections were detected after 98,412 tests were carried out in the past 24 hours.

More than 9.5 million tests have been carried out since the outbreak began as part of a mass screening strategy.