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Coronavirus: UAE reports 861 Covid-19 cases, 887 recoveries, 1 death

Over 179.4 million PCR tests have been conducted in the country so far

Published: Thu 11 Aug 2022, 3:12 PM

Updated: Thu 11 Aug 2022, 3:19 PM

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The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention on Thursday reported 861 cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus, along with 887 recoveries and 1 death.

Total active cases stand at 18,902.

The new cases were detected through 240,811 additional tests.

The total number of cases in UAE as on August 11 are 1,002,306, while total recoveries stand at 981,065. The death toll now stands at 2339.

Over 179.4 million PCR tests have been conducted in the country so far.

India said on Wednesday that Biological E's Covid-19 vaccine Corbevax can be administered as a booster dose in people who have taken the country's other two main shots — Covaxin and AstraZeneca's Covishield — from Friday onwards.

Corbevax will be available to those over 18, as a precautionary booster six months after a second dose, the Health Ministry said, in an August 8 letter to state authorities and to reporters on Wednesday.

Covishield is produced for the Indian market by the Serum Institute of India, under licence from AstraZeneca, while Bharat Biotech makes Covaxin.

India has so far administered more than 2 billion Covid-19 vaccine shots, including 113 million boosters, all of which have so far been of the same vaccine as the recipient's first two doses. The government says about 89 per cent of Indians above the age of 12 have had two doses.

With a population of nearly 1.4 billion people, the country has documented more than 44 million Covid-19 infections and 526,826 related deaths. The actual numbers are believed to be many times higher.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared victory in the battle against the novel coronavirus, ordering a lifting of maximum anti-epidemic measures imposed in May, state media said on Thursday.

North Korea has not revealed how many confirmed infections of the virus it has found, but since July 29 it has reported no new suspected cases with what international aid organisations say are limited testing capabilities.

While lifting the maximum anti-pandemic measures, Kim said that North Korea must maintain a "steel-strong anti-epidemic barrier and intensifying the anti-epidemic work until the end of the global health crisis," according to a report by state news agency KCNA.

Analysts said that although the authoritarian North has used the pandemic to tighten social controls, its victory declaration could be a prelude to restoring trade hampered by border lockdowns and other restrictions.

Observers have also said it may clear the way for the North to conduct a nuclear weapon test for the first time since 2017.

North Korea's official death rate of 74 people is an "unprecedented miracle" compared to other countries, KCNA reported, citing another official.

Instead of confirmed cases, North Korea reported the number of people with fever symptoms. Those daily cases peaked at more than 392,920 on May 15, prompting health experts to warn of an inevitable crisis.

The World Health Organization has cast doubts on North Korea's claims, saying last month it believed the situation was getting worse, not better, amid an absence of independent data.



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