The UAE recorded 70 new <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/coronavirus/" target="_blank">Covid-19 cases</a> on Thursday, bringing the country's tally to 741,790. A further 90 people beat the virus as the recovery tally reached 736,601. The death toll remains at 2,145. The latest cases were detected as a result of an additional 263,429 tests, meaning the UAE is now only 23,462 tests away from reaching 100 million since the outbreak began. Extensive testing, plus a nationwide vaccination drive, have been credited with helping to limit the spread of the virus in the UAE. Despite extensive vaccination campaigns around the world, Covid-19 cases are rising, in particular in northern European countries where winter is causing more people to stay indoors. The virus spreads more easily in enclosed spaces. A lockdown have been imposed in Austria, and the Netherlands is considering tougher Covid-19 restrictions this week. Germany recorded a new high of 419.7 new infections per 100,000 people this week, and 351 died in the past 24 hours, bringing its official death toll since the start of the pandemic to 100,119. Concerns are also rising regarding the discovery of a new variant in South Africa, which has prompted the UK and other nations to impose a <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/coronavirus/2021/11/25/six-african-countries-added-to-red-list-as-uk-sounds-alarm-over-new-coronavirus-variant/">ban on flights from the region</a>. Experts from the World Health Organisation are meeting officials on Friday to assess the mutation, which is called<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/coronavirus/2021/11/24/scientists-warn-of-new-b11529-covid-variant-with-high-number-of-mutations/"> B.1.1529</a>. The variant could eventually be called "Nu" by the WHO, as the most concerning variants are named using letters from the Greek alphabet.
