UAE reports 809 new Covid-19 cases, health minister begins vaccine trial

DUBAI: The UAE on Saturday recorded 809 new cases of COVID-19 and one death.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention said the total number of infected cases since the pandemic began has reached 84,242, while the total deaths has reached 404.

A further 722 people recovered from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 73,512 recoveries.

The ministry said 103,000 new tests have been conducted on various groups of society, using the best and latest medical examination techniques.

The UAE health minister Abdul Rahman Al-Owais received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, after the UAE authorized the use of the vaccine for doctors and frontline workers.

The ministry said in a statement that the minister received the vaccine “in line with the ministry’s plan that was announced last week, which includes providing the coronavirus vaccine to specific groups in the first line of defense,” state news agency WAM reported.

Al-Owais said: “By presenting this vaccine, we seek to provide all safety measures for the heroes of the first line of defense and protect them from any dangers that they may face due to the nature of their work.”

UAE Minister of Health, Abdul Rahman Al-Owais, received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, after the UAE authorized its use for doctors and frontline workers. (WAM)

He added that the clinical trials of the vaccine conducted by the country’s health sector “showed positive results, and proved that it is safe and effective and will contribute to reducing the losses caused by the pandemic to preserve lives.”

The UAE began experiments on a vaccine for the novel COVID-19 in mid-July, which is produced by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharma, and the experiments were conducted under the supervision of the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s health ministry.

The vaccine is included under the umbrella of the World Health Organization, and the UAE was chosen to conduct the experiments as it includes more than 200 nationalities.

Meanwhile, Dubai Economy, in cooperation with the Dubai Tourism Department, said it had closed one cafe and issued seven violations and five warnings to several other establishments for not abiding by the precautionary measures.

The cafe was closed as a performer was not wearing a face mask and the customers were not adhering to social distancing.

Dubai Economy closed a coffee shop in cooperation with the Department of Tourism and Commerce for employees not wearing face masks, and not adhering to the social distancing to limit the spread of COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/BmRgsnYWIr — اقتصادية دبي (@Dubai_DED) September 19, 2020

The authority said 660 entities out of the 673 inspected had met the precautionary measures set by the government.

Elsewhere, Kuwait recorded 521 new infected Covid-19 cases and one death during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number to 99,049 and 581 cases respectively.

The ministry of health said 8,970 cases remained active, with 96 in critical condition.

تعلن #وزارة_الصحة⁩ عن تأكيد إصابة 521 حالة جديدة، وتسجيل 722 حالة شفاء، وحالة وفاة واحدة جديدة بـ ⁧#فيروس_كورونا_المستجدّ⁩ COVID-19 ، ليصبح إجمالي عدد الحالات 99,049 حالة pic.twitter.com/B55XIclKfA — وزارة الصحة - الكويت (@KUWAIT_MOH) September 19, 2020

It also 722 cases had recovered from the virus, bringing the total to 89,498.

In Bahrain, 690 new cases, three deaths and 613 recoveries were reported.

Out of 12301 COVID-19 tests carried out on 18 September 2020, 690 new cases have been detected among 125 expatriate workers, 544 new cases are contacts of active cases, and 21 are travel related. There were 613 recoveries from #COVID19, increasing total recoveries to 56700 pic.twitter.com/lkUA2PTKQs — وزارة الصحة | مملكة البحرين (@MOH_Bahrain) September 18, 2020

The ministry said 6,959 cases remained active, while the total death toll had reached 220 and 56,700 cases had recovered from coronavirus.

Out of the active cases, 6916 were in stable condition and 43 were critical.