Live updates: follow the latest news on Covid-19 variant Omicron
The UAE reported 2,232 new cases of Covid-19 and 1,427 recoveries on Thursday.
The daily caseload pushed the total number of infections to 851,537 and recoveries to 780,893.
Health officials said two people died in the past 24 hours, raising the total to 2,232.
The latest cases were identified from 491,658 PCR tests. More than 126 million tests have been carried out since the pandemic began.
Cases were on a downward trend from January 27 to January 31 but went up slightly on February 1, 2, and 3.
The National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management data shows 23.6 million vaccine doses have been given to citizens and residents, and 94.27 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated.
On Wednesday, authorities announced children over 5 can now take the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The Ministry of Health will make the shots available for children across the Emirates.
Authorities approved the drug for that age group in November 2021 but appointments were not available until now.
Dubai began taking bookings for children aged 5 to 11 from Tuesday.
The Sinopharm vaccine for children between 3 and 17 has been available since August.
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre supercharged V6
Power: 416hp at 7,000rpm
Torque: 410Nm at 3,500rpm
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Fuel consumption: 10.2 l/100km
Price: Dh375,000
On sale: now
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
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The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Specs
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old - Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old - Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old - Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old - Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20Z%20FLIP5
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
Kanguva
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
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- Kim: “I believe this is a good prelude for peace."
- Trump: “We will solve it, we will be successful.”
All times UTC 4
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
On Women's Day
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Samar Elmnhrawy: How companies in the Middle East can catch up on gender equality
The National Editorial: Is there much to celebrate on International Women's Day 2021?
The specs: Hyundai Ionic Hybrid
Price, base: Dh117,000 (estimate)
Engine: 1.6L four-cylinder, with 1.56kWh battery
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 105hp (engine), plus 43.5hp (battery)
Torque: 147Nm (engine), plus 170Nm (battery)
Fuel economy, combined: 3.4L / 100km
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
