UAE officials laud public for low COVID-19 cases, continues to monitor new strains

Health officials in the United Arab Emirates have praised members of the public for following safety protocols and helping get new daily COVID-19 cases under 100 – but said variants of the disease are still a cause for concern.

During the UAE’s weekly COVID-19 briefing, the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) said this means safety measures – including wearing face masks – must continue to limit the threat of infections.

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New COVID-19 infections have been significantly dropping with cases falling below the 100 mark every day over the past week.

“We thank the public for trusting the health sector and their adherence,” the health body said on Twitter.

“We laud your role in reducing infections to less than 100 cases per day.”

But NCEMA warned residents against complacency.

“We urge the public to follow the situation regarding the pandemic in the country through official sources, as well as updated resolutions and protocols.”

The Authority continued: “Since the outbreak of the pandemic globally, we have urged everyone to adhere to the precautionary measures, most notably social distancing, wearing face masks and sanitizing hands and areas. This is the new lifestyle that we need to adhere to.”

“Sars-Cov-2 has spread around most of the world. Therefore, pandemics centers and the WHO are analyzing the characteristics of these variants to inform public health authorities.”

“The WHO highlighted the spread of alarming variants of the virus in the world, most notably the delta variant, which is spreading in many areas globally in October, followed by the alpha variant, which is still spreading in the Americas and some European countries.”

The NCEMA also said the beta variant is dominant in the US and South Africa, while the gamma variant is spreading mainly in South America.

“New variants of the virus have been discovered in a number of countries, and they are still being monitored by experts and researchers to assess risk levels.”

Authorities also urged people wishing to travel to follow protocols in their destination countries and to adhere to local precautionary measures.

The health body urged everyone to get vaccinated and to get booster shots.

“International health reports discovered a direct link between complications and age, weak immunity and chronic diseases. However, all available vaccines are effective in reducing the severity of illness and hospitalization rates.”

“We also urge everyone to get vaccinated and strengthen their immunity by taking booster shots.”

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NCEMA said the country continues to rank number one globally for COVID-19 vaccination rates.

To date, 97.16 percent of the UAE have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine while 87 percent have been fully vaccinated.

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