United Arab Emirates Announces "Limited Number" of New Variant Coronavirus Cases

 

Omar Al Hammadi, a spokesman for the UAE government, said in a press release on Tuesday that affected people had traveled from abroad, without specifying where or how many cases.

A member of hospital staff watches over people queuing to be tested, amid COVID-19 outbreak.

Cairo / Dubai: 

A government official said the UAE has discovered a "limited number" of cases of people infected with the new coronavirus in the country, the first confirmed cases of the contagious COVID-19 mutation in the Gulf region.

Omar Al Hammadi, the official UAE government spokesman, said in a press release on Tuesday that the affected people had traveled from abroad, without specifying where or the number of cases.

 He said: "In light of the emergence of the new rising stress from the Corona virus in Britain, and in conjunction with ongoing health sector investigations,it has been shown that there are limited cases at home imported from abroad."

Britain and South Africa have separately reported fast-spreading variants of the Coronavirus, prompting some countries to ban travel to the two countries amid concerns that the more virulent virus could exacerbate strained health systems.

The Omani News Agency reported on December 21 that Omani health authorities were studying four suspected cases of the variant from the UK, citing Health Minister Ahmed Al-Saeedi. No additional details were available.

The UAE saved its borders and open global flights, while neighboring Saudi Arabia on Monday extended a ban on entering the kingdom by air, land and sea for any other week.

On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates reported 1,506 new instances of COVID-19 in the previous 24 hours, bringing the entire wide variety of humans contaminated with the virus into the United States. s. to . at 204,369.