UAE’s COVID-19 cases cross 1mln-mark; infection rate among lowest in the world

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A little over two-and-a-half years after it discovered its first Covid-19 infection, the UAE’s caseload now stands at more than one million. About 10 per cent of the country’s population have had the viral disease at some point in the last 30 months. If repeat infections are factored in, this rate would be even lower.

This is significantly lower than other countries around the world with similar population as that of the UAE.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention reported 919 new cases on Tuesday, with the total number of infections now at 1,000,556.

Medical experts say that the country would have reached the 1 million-mark much sooner had it not been for its robust response mechanism to the pandemic. The UAE did not charge a single dirham for treating its Covid-19 patients and is continuing to administer vaccines and booster shots for free. The UAE has been the world’s most vaccinated country for a while now.

There are reasons to cheer for the country’s healthcare workers. Daily cases have remained below the 1,000-mark for the last five days and are dipping steadily. This is a significant drop, considering the fact that the country saw 1,000+ daily infections for nearly two months before August 5. At the beginning of the year, the country saw highs of over 3,000 daily infections.

At just over 0.2 per cent, the country’s death rate also remains among the lowest globally.

The UAE has restored normalcy across all sectors, with safety precautions still in place. Masks and social distancing in public spaces continue to remain mandatory, even as entities operate at 100 per cent capacity.

As PCR testing for the virus decreases around the world, the UAE continues to administer it in the hundreds of thousands daily. Till date, the country has conducted over 179 million PCR tests, with the daily average hovering around 150,000.

“This strategy of testing to detect infected people and isolating them to prevent transmission has led to a reduced number of infections,” Dr Saheer Sainalabdeen, specialist pulmonologist at Medeor Hospital, Dubai, told Khaleej Times earlier.