Coronavirus: UAE records new daily high of 3,601 cases

A further 3,890 patients have recovered during the past 24 hours

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  Medical staff inside a Covid-19 screening centre at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. Reuters

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  A healthcare worker tests a man for Covid-19 at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. Reuters

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  A health worker examines a sample taken from a labourer in the Al Quoz district of Dubai. The UAE has significantly increased testing for the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. AFP

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  A medic takes samples from a worker at a testing centre in Al Quoz. AFP

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  A man wearing a protective mask has his body temperature reading taken upon arriving at the police station in Naif. AFP

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  An employee wears a protective face mask and shield while collecting carts outside a Lulu hypermarket in Dubai. Bloomberg

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  A man, wearing a protective mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, has his temperature taken at the Ibn Battuta centre in Dubai. AFP

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  Frontline workers, such as medics leading the fight against Covid-19, are being recognised in the UAE. Reuters

The UAE announced 3,601 Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, extending its streak of record infections to 15 days.

The latest daily high brought the country’s tally since the pandemic began to 285,147.

A further 3,890 patients received the all-clear as the recovery total rose to 259,194.

Seven patients died, raising the country’s toll to 805.

The latest cases were detected as a result of an additional 175,249 tests, on one of the largest testing days to date.

Close to 25 million tests have been carried out nationwide.

The number of active cases has fallen to 25,148 after recoveries exceeded new infections for the seventh day running.

Since the start of the year, 77,335 infections have been registered at an average of 2,974 per day.

In an effort to support a national immunisation drive, Mubadala hospitals are offering free Covid-19 vaccines in Abu Dhabi.

The Sinopharm vaccine will be available to anyone over the age of 16 with a valid Emirates ID.

It is offered on a walk-in basis at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, on Al Maryah Island; Healthpoint Hospital in Zayed Sports City and Imperial College London Diabetes Centre, which has premises in Al Ain, Al Bateen and Zayed Sports City.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention said 106,589 doses of vaccine had been given to the public in the past 24 hours.

The overall number now stands at 2.67 million, representing a distribution rate of 27.07 doses per 100 people.

The Sinopharm vaccine was made available country-wide on December 9, with the Pfizer-BioNTech one introduced in Dubai two weeks later.

Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine was registered for emergency use last week.

Authorities aim to inoculate half of the population by the end of March.