The UAE announced 528 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, taking the country's total number to 39,904. Officials said 37,000 additional tests had been carried out across the country, with more than 2.5 million conducted in the Emirates since the start of the outbreak. Figures from the Ministry of Health and Prevention also revealed 465 patients had recovered from the pathogen since Monday while two had died. The numbers bring the UAE's total to 22,740 recoveries and 283 deaths since the first cases of the virus were announced in late January. Globally, there have now been more than 7.2m cases of coronavirus with more than 3.5m making full recoveries. More than 409,000 people have died. The UAE has recently begun easing restrictions to allow businesses across the country to resume more regular operations. In Dubai, some staff have been allowed to return to their workplaces, while cinemas, <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/uae/health/coronavirus-dubai-gyms-reopen-as-covid-19-restrictions-ease-1.1025672">gyms</a> and entertainment centres including ice rinks have also reopened. Earlier on Tuesday, schools in the UAE said thousands of parents in the country would continue to have to pay for their schoolchildren's exams despite pupils not being able to sit the tests due to coronavirus. School operators said they had no choice but to pass on the fees, which can total more than Dh2,000, as exam boards were refusing to waive their charges. Pupils throughout the country have been taught at home since March when the government was forced to close schools to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Summer term exams were also cancelled, with pupils instead assessed by their overall performance during the year. “I find it unfortunate that most UK exam boards have chosen to charge parents full fees for the cancelled GCSE and A-Level exams,” said Brendon Fulton, school principal of the Dubai British School, part of the schools operator Taaleem. “I would have hoped the exam boards would do as we as an organisation did and provide parents with some deserved respite from costs during this period.”