Over 108.6 million PCR tests have been conducted in the country so far
The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention on Saturday reported 1,621 cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus, along with 585 recoveries and one death.
Over 108.6 million PCR tests have been conducted in the country so far.
The new cases were detected through 339,500 additional tests.
The total number of cases in UAE as on December 25 are 749,530, while total recoveries stand at 740,707. The death toll now stands at 2,156.
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New Zealanders celebrated Christmas on Saturday in the warmth of mid-summer with few restrictions, in one of the few countries in the world largely untouched by the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
Ninety-five per cent of adults in New Zealand have had at least one dose of the vaccine, making it one of the world’s most vaccinated populations. The only Omicron cases that have been found in New Zealand have been safely contained at the border.
As Covid-19 spread around the world the past two years, New Zealand used its isolation to its advantage. Border controls kept the worst of the virus at bay and by Christmas this year, New Zealand had recorded 50 deaths in a population of 5.5 million.
The Delta variant penetrated New Zealand’s defences in August and its largest city, Auckland, was thrust into lockdown for 188 days. At its peak, the outbreak saw around 220 cases a day. Lately, the daily average has been around 50.
Meanwhile, commercial airlines around the world cancelled more than 4,000 flights over the Christmas weekend, as a mounting wave of Covid-19 infections driven by the Omicron variant created greater uncertainty and misery for holiday travellers.
Airline carriers globally scrapped at least 2,314 flights on Friday, which fell on Christmas Eve and is typically a heavy day for air travel, according to a running tally on the flight-tracking website FlightAware.com.
The website showed that another 1,404 Christmas Day flights were called off worldwide, along with 340 more that had been scheduled for Sunday.