Abu Dhabi: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday reported the highest number of daily COVID-19 cases since July, as it recorded more than 1,800 infections.
The Ministry of Health on Sunday reported 1,803 cases of COVID-19 infections, 618 recoveries and two deaths.
Cases in the Gulf country have seen a steady rise at slow rates in recent months, but the last time the number of daily infections was this high was at the end of June when the UAE reported 2,184 cases on June 29.
This comes at a time when thousands of tourists around the world are preparing to travel to Dubai, to celebrate New Year Eve.
The UAE remains one of the top countries in the world when it comes to vaccination rates, and has been able to report a low number of cases and deaths in recent months as it continues to open up for business.
On November 27, UAE announced that 100 per cent of the population had received a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 90.3 per cent had been fully vaccinated.
High rates of testing and vaccination helped push the country to first place on Bloomberg’s COVID resilience rankings on November 30.
On December 20, Expo 2020 Dubai suspended some events that carry the risk of potential close contact as a precaution to curb COVID-19.
On December 21, 2021, UAE also made COVID-19 vaccine booster dose available to all people over the age of 18 amid growing concerns about Omicron.
On December 26, 2021, Abu Dhabi announced new guidelines for hosting indoor and outdoor social events and celebrations in the emirate to enhance precautionary measures and protect public health.