Coronavirus: UAE reports lowest Covid-19 cases this year

Over 102.3 million PCR tests have been conducted in the country so far

By Web Desk

Published: Sun 5 Dec 2021, 1:59 PM

Last updated: Sun 5 Dec 2021, 2:10 PM

The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention on Sunday reported 50 cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus, along with 75 recoveries and no deaths.

Over 102.3 million PCR tests have been conducted in the country so far.

The new cases were detected through 191,313 additional tests.

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The total number of cases in UAE as on December 5 are 742,328, while total recoveries stand at 737,330. The death toll now stands at 2,148.

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A Bengaluru-based doctor — one of the four patients to have been found infected with the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 in India to date — has allayed the concerns of panic-stricken Indians.

The 46-year-old doctor, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Bengaluru (whose details are known to but has chosen not to disclose in a bid to protect the patient’s privacy) has appealed to the public to stay calm, undergo an immediate PCR test, self-isolate and get treated.

Similarly, his wife and children, who had earlier self-quarantined themselves, are undergoing treatment at the same hospital.

Though the doctor is feeling “absolutely fine” since he tested positive for the new Omicron variant on November 22, he is still in isolation at the Bengaluru hospital as a precautionary measure.

Meanwhile, Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi said some of the four diplomats who first tested positive for the Omicron coronavirus variant in the country had come from Europe, calling for a reversal of widespread travel bans imposed against southern African countries.

Omicron, dubbed a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation, has prompted many governments to impose curbs on travel from southern Africa, and to take other measures to contain it.

While it is still not established where Omicron first emerged, on November 25, South Africa, followed by Botswana a day later, announced they had detected a new variant whose mutations were different from the dominant Delta variant.

South Africa has also complained it is being punished for having identified the new variant early.