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UAE reports 1,590 new COVID-19 cases, 5 deaths

Abu Dhabi Public Health Center (ADPHC), the Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK), and the Biogenics Laboratory have performed saliva testing for more than 2,000 children in Abu Dhabi schools. (WAM)
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Updated 04 January 2021
Arab News
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UAE reports 1,590 new COVID-19 cases, 5 deaths

  • UAE says 1,609 have recovered over the past 24 hours
  • Kuwait records 269 cases, Bahrain reports 294 cases
Updated 04 January 2021
Arab News

DUBAI: The UAE on Sunday recorded 1,590 new coronavirus cases and five virus-related deaths.
Officials from the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) said the total number of cases since the pandemic began had reached 213,231. The death toll is 679.
It was also announced that 1,609 people had recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours. The total number of recoveries is 189,709.
Officials at the Abu Dhabi Public Health Center (ADPHC), the Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK), and the Biogenics Laboratory, a member of G42 — one of the leading artificial intelligence companies — discussed efforts to develop rapid testing methodologies that reduce burdens on school children and their families, including conducting COVID-19 saliva tests, which produce fast and accurate results and are more child-friendly.

The three bodies have already performed saliva testing for more than 2,000 children in Abu Dhabi schools, “in order to adopt effective and advanced examination methodologies for COVID-19 and (for) maintaining a healthy learning environment.”
“Saliva testing was offered for students aged four to 12 across 25 schools” in December, the Abu Dhabi media office said, adding that “the rollout comes after completing phase one of saliva testing in October.”
Tariq Al-Ameri, director of the Licensing and Education Compliance Department at ADEK, said: “The health and safety of the school community in Abu Dhabi remains our top priority, and in line with our efforts to continue maintaining a healthy environment in private and charter schools in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, we were keen to conduct periodic COVID-19 checks for all school personnel as of the beginning of the academic year, while requiring all students over the age of 12 to submit a negative test result before returning to school.”
Ashish Koshy, CEO of G42 Healthcare, said: “Regular COVID-19 checks have become a part of our lives, and we at G42 Healthcare and Biogenix Labs are eager to continue advancing additional innovation in COVID-19 testing for the wider community.”
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development said it has permitted licensed restaurants, cafes and tourist service facilities across the emirate to provide shisha (hookah) services, and that the move conformed with precautionary measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Elsewhere, Kuwait reported 269 new coronavirus cases, raising the total number to 151,343. The death toll remained at 937 after no coronavirus-related deaths were reported in the previous 24 hours.

Oman’s Health Ministry said that its total number of cases had reached 129,404 and the death toll was 1,501.

In Bahrain, zero deaths was reported, keeping the death toll to 352, while 294 new infected cases were confirmed.

 

Topics: UAE Kuwait Oman Bahrain COVID-19 Coronavirus Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development Abu Dhabi Public Health Center Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge Biogenics Laboratory G42 Ministry of Health and Prevention Tariq Al-Ameri Ashish Koshy

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Tunisia’s famed blue-and-white village threatened after record rains

Updated 5 sec ago
AFP
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Tunisia’s famed blue-and-white village threatened after record rains

Updated 5 sec ago
AFP

SIDI BOU SAID, Tunisia: Perched on a hill overlooking Carthage, Tunisia’s famed blue-and-white village of Sidi Bou Said now faces the threat of landslides, after record rainfall tore through parts of its slopes.
Last week, Tunisia saw its heaviest downpour in more than 70 years. The storm killed at least five people, with others still missing.
Narrow streets of this village north of Tunis — famed for its pink bougainvillea and studded wooden doors — were cut off by fallen trees, rocks and thick clay. Even more worryingly for residents, parts of the hillside have broken loose.
“The situation is delicate” and “requires urgent intervention,” Mounir Riabi, the regional director of civil defense in Tunis, recently told AFP.
“Some homes are threatened by imminent danger,” he said.
Authorities have banned heavy vehicles from driving into the village and ordered some businesses and institutions to close, such as the Ennejma Ezzahra museum.

- Scared -

Fifty-year-old Maya, who did not give her full name, said she was forced to leave her century-old family villa after the storm.
“Everything happened very fast,” she recalled. “I was with my mother and, suddenly, extremely violent torrents poured down.”
“I saw a mass of mud rushing toward the house, then the electricity cut off. I was really scared.”
Her Moorish-style villa sustained significant damage.
One worker on site, Said Ben Farhat, said waterlogged earth sliding from the hillside destroyed part of a kitchen wall.
“Another rainstorm and it will be a catastrophe,” he said.
Shop owners said the ban on heavy vehicles was another blow to their businesses, as they usually rely on tourist buses to bring in traffic.
When President Kais Saied visited the village on Wednesday, vendors were heard shouting: “We want to work.”
One trader, Mohamed Fedi, told AFP afterwards there were “no more customers.”
“We have closed shop,” he said, adding that the shops provide a livelihood to some 200 families.

- Highly unstable -

Beyond its famous architecture, the village also bears historical and spiritual significance.
The village was named after a 12th-century Sufi saint, Abu Said Al-Baji, who had established a religious center there. His shrine still sits atop the hill.
The one-time home of French philosopher Michel Foucault and writer Andre Gide, the village is protected under Tunisian preservation law, pending a UNESCO decision on its bid for World Heritage status.
Experts say solutions to help preserve Sidi Bou Said could include restricting new development, building more retaining walls and improving drainage to prevent runoff from accumulating.
Chokri Yaich, a geologist speaking to Tunisian radio Mosaique FM, said climate change has made protecting the hill increasingly urgent, warning of more storms like last week’s.
The hill’s clay-rich soil loses up to two thirds of its cohesion when saturated with water, making it highly unstable, Yaich explained.
He also pointed to marine erosion and the growing weight of urbanization, saying that construction had increased by about 40 percent over the past three decades.
For now, authorities have yet to announce a protection plan, leaving home and shop owners anxious, as the weather remains unpredictable.
 

 

Topics: Tunisia

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