The United Arab Emirates reported more than 1,000 new Covid-19 infections for the first time since late August, a steep increase from the start of the month when daily cases had fallen to below 50.
The gulf nation recorded 1,002 new infections on Thursday, up from 665 a day earlier. The UAE reported its first instance of the highly transmissible omicron variant earlier in December.
Despite an increase in cases, deaths from Covid-19 are rare in the UAE and no fatalities were reported on Dec. 23. High rates of testing and vaccination helped push the country to first place on Bloomberg’s Covid resilience rankings last month. It’s placed third in the latest rankings.
The UAE has used an aggressive vaccination campaign to keep a lid on the virus for most of this year, and has managed to avoid lockdowns unlike most major cities around the world.
Staying open has attracted a variety of business and sporting events to the UAE, helping fuel a faster-than-expected economic recovery, especially in the trade and tourism hub of Dubai -- currently host to Expo 2020.
The country is currently administering booster doses to its population of 10 million, and has so far covered just over 30%.
