UAE reports a limited number of new COVID-19 strain cases

Dr. Omar Al-Hammadi, the official spokesman of the UAE government media briefing on the developments of the health status in UAE, in the review of the past 7 days (between 23-29 December):

• More than 900,000 tests were conducted nationwide, with 8,491 confirmed cases. The rate of positive cases remains at 1%.

• The mortality rate was 0.3% to be among the lowest in the world.

• In conjunction with the health authorities’ continuous investigations, a limited number of infections with the new strain of COVID-19 that appeared in the UK have been detected in the UAE who has entered from abroad.

•The total number of tests performed has reached 20,593,403, including PCR and DPI tests throughout all the emirates.

•The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases have reached 204,369, while the total number of recoveries is 181,400 and the deaths toll 662.

•The UAE has applied holistic approaches in handling COVID-19, succeeding over all countries in the Middle East and Africa, and ranking the tenth globally in the treatment effectiveness.

• In the third phase of clinical trials of the Russian and Chinese vaccines, the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine achieved positive results, with the efficacy rate reaching 86%؜, and the preliminary results showed 100% protection against the occurrence of moderate and severe infections.

• The Combination Hope initiative launched by the UAE is prepared to facilitate and support the distribution of 6 billion doses of vaccinations around the world, with the aim of increasing this capacity to 18 billion by the end of 2021.