UAE safest Arab country and is ahead of Canada, says report
The UAE has been ranked the safest Arab country and the 11th globally for safety, security, and health, economic and social stability, according to a study conducted by the Deep Knowledge Group, a consortium of companies and nonprofits owned by Deep Knowledge Ventures, an investment firm founded in 2014 in Hong Kong.
The report is based on 130 quantitative and qualitative parameters and over 11,400 data points in categories like quarantine efficiency, monitoring and detection, health readiness, and government efficiency.
The UAE ranked ahead of world-class countries such as Canada, Hong Kong, Denmark, Taiwan and the Netherlands. Germany and Switzerland ranked first in the lead, according to the report.
The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention reported 626 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 38,268.
Ministry also announced that 724 patients of COVID-19 recovered completely on Saturday, taking the total number of recoveries to 21,061.
The ministry said that one person who tested positive for COVID-19 died due to complications. This brings the total death toll to 275.
Some countries have seen COVID-19 cases rising as lockdowns ease, and populations must protect themselves from the coronavirus while authorities continue testing, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
According to some local media reports India on Saturday surpassed Spain’s tally of coronavirus cases, and become the fifth worst-hit country in the world affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
John Hopkins University data showed the total number of confirmed cases in the world’s largest democracy stands at 243,733, with Spain at 240,978.
Earlier in the day India also surpassed Italy in the worst-hit nation by the coronavirus pandemic after another biggest single-day spike in confirmed infections.
The Health Ministry reported 9,887 new cases on Saturday, bringing the total to 236,657.
Most of the new cases are in rural areas following the return of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who left cities and towns after the lockdown in late March.
The lockdown is now largely being enforced in high-risk areas while authorities have partially restored train services and domestic flights and allowed shops and manufacturing to reopen. Shopping malls and religious places are due to open on Monday with restrictions to avoid large gatherings.
Dr Amna Al Dahak Al Shamsi, the UAE government’s spokesperson said, “the efforts of the UAE government are reflected in the number of examinations of the COVID-19 cases in the country, which is considered one of the highest in the world, as health authorities carried out more than 2.5 million examinations in various emirates of the country.”
G20 members and invited countries have pledged more than $21 billion to fight COVID-19 and, with a spirit of solidarity, have shown they will spare no effort to protect lives and the most vulnerable.
Including suspected cases, the united kingdom’ s death toll this week surpassed 50,000, according to a media tally of official data sources.
Brazilian pres id entjai rb olson ar oh as threatened to pull out of the WHO over “ideological bias,” as his counterpart Donald Trump said the US economy was recovering from the coronavirus pandemic while Europe slowly reopens its borders.
Bolsonaro on Saturday defended his government’s move to partially withhold official data on the scale of the world’s second-largest coronavirus outbreak.
Late on Friday, Brazil’s Health Ministry took down a website showing the evolution of the epidemic over time and by state and municipality. The ministry also stopped reporting a total tally of confirmed cases, which have shot past 645,000 — more than anywhere outside the United States — and its overall death toll, which just passed Italy with more than 35,000.
“The cumulative data ... does not reflect the moment the country is in,” Bolsonaro said on Twitter, citing a note from the ministry. “Other actions are underway to improve the reporting of cases and confirmation of diagnoses.”
A wedding party contributed to a new surge in coronavirus infections in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday but insisted the country had no option but to keep its economy open despite warnings of a second wave of the epidemic.
UAE reports 626 new cases and a death; 2.5m tests show intensity of UAE’S anti-virus fight; India surpasses Spain, becomes fifth worst-hit by pandemic; Brazil threatens to quit WHO; G20 members pledge $21 billion.