Coronavirus: UAE records lowest number of new Covid-19 cases for more than three months


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Latest: UAE reports 305 Covid-19 cases

The UAE reported 211 cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, its lowest daily tally for more than three months.

The new infections bring the country's total to 56,922 .

Authorities said 352 more patients had recovered from the virus, pushing the Emirates' overall total to 49,269.

One more person died, taking the death toll to 339.

The number of new cases recorded nationwide fell below 300 for the fifth consecutive day.

The latest figures represent the lowest rise in cases since 210 new cases were identified on April 2.

It is another key milestone in the country's fight against the pandemic.

Last Wednesday, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, praised frontline medics after officials announced there had been no deaths connected to the virus on this day.

Officials were buoyed when zero deaths linked to the virus were also reported on Thursday.

More than 4.5 million tests have been conducted in the UAE since the coronavirus outbreak emerged.

On Saturday, Emirati officials said 5,000 people in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain had signed up to take part in a clinical trial for a Covid-19 vaccine.

The UAE trial is a partnership between Sinopharm, a Chinese vaccine manufacturer, Abu Dhabi-based AI and cloud computing company Group 42 and Abu Dhabi's health department.

The UAE was chosen as it is home to about 200 nationalities. The effect of a potential vaccine on multiple ethnic groups is an important part of its development.

It is hoped 15,000 people in the Emirates will eventually be part of the three-to-six month process.

Globally, the battle to limit the spread of the virus remains far from over.

The number of new Covid-19 cases rose nearly 260,000 in 24 hours, the largest single-day increase since the pandemic began, the World Health Organisation said on Saturday.

More than 14.3 million people have been reported to be infected by the coronavirus globally and just over 602,000 have died from Covid-19, according to official figures.

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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?

The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.

Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.

“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.

The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.

The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.

Bloomberg

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