The UAE recorded 1,588 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, as daily infections stayed below 2,000 for the fourth day in a row.
Five people died during the 24-hour reporting period, while a further 2,301 recoveries were confirmed.
Authorities have reported 864,102 cases, 793,619 recoveries and 2,278 deaths to date.
The number of active cases fell to 68,205 as recoveries exceeded new infections for the fourth consecutive day.
The latest infections were identified as a result of 527,913 PCR tests.
More than 130 million tests have been conducted across the Emirates under a comprehensive screening strategy.
Case numbers have dropped significantly in recent weeks, following a sharp rise at the end of 2021.
Daily infections reached 3,116 on January 15 - the highest since the previous February - but have since fell to about half of that number.
On Wednesday, the UAE announced it as to gradually lift Covid-19 capacity limits at shopping centres and other public places within days.
Dr Saif Al Dhaheri, official spokesman for the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, said venues would be allowed to operate at full occupancy by the middle of February.
During the country’s weekly coronavirus briefing, he said the directives related to “various economic, tourist and recreational facilities, shopping centres and means of transportation”.
Dr Al Dhaheri said individual emirates would to allowed to set capacity limits for weddings and funerals.
He called on members of the public to abide by green pass rules in place in the emirates in which they live.
Dr Farida Al Hosani, a government health spokeswoman, reiterated the importance of continuing to follow safety rules during the briefing.
“We urge community members to adhere to the precautionary measures, by wearing face masks, avoiding overcrowded places and constantly sanitising,” she said.
“The health of our community is a priority and is everyone’s responsibility."
While praising the success of the UAE's inoculation drives, she said the commitment of the public remained integral to the country's recovery.
“The vaccine is not a substitute for adhering to relevant precautionary measures, such as wearing face masks, respecting social distancing and sanitising, among other protocols,” she said.
Oscars in the UAE
The 90th Academy Awards will be aired in the UAE from 3.30am on Monday, March 5 on OSN, with the ceremony starting at 5am
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.0-litre, twin-turbocharged W12
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 626bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh1,050,000
On sale: now
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Director: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas
Three stars
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
ORDER OF PLAY ON SHOW COURTS
Centre Court - 4pm (UAE)
Gael Monfils (15) v Kyle Edmund
Karolina Pliskova (3) v Magdalena Rybarikova
Dusan Lajovic v Roger Federer (3)
Court 1 - 4pm
Adam Pavlasek v Novak Djokovic (2)
Dominic Thiem (8) v Gilles Simon
Angelique Kerber (1) v Kirsten Flipkens
Court 2 - 2.30pm
Grigor Dimitrov (13) v Marcos Baghdatis
Agnieszka Radwanska (9) v Christina McHale
Milos Raonic (6) v Mikhail Youzhny
Tsvetana Pironkova v Caroline Wozniacki (5)
