ABU DHABI — A total of 549 new coronavirus were reported in the United Arab Emirates, raising the total number of COVID-19 infections to 11,929 in the country, according to a statement issued by the UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention carried by the state news agency WAM on Wednesday. Speaking during the media briefing, Dr. Amna Al Dhahak Al Shamsi, the official spokesperson for the UAE government, also announced nine more deaths, taking the country's death toll from the virus to 98. Meanwhile, 148 more patients have fully recovered from COVID-19 after receiving the necessary medical care, bringing the total number of recoveries to 2,329. Dr. Amna noted that recovered cases constitute 20 percent of all infections in the country. She said: ''We are optimistic that with the dedication of frontline doctors and paramedics who use the most advanced methods of treatment, we will soon have more recovered patients.'' Dr. Amna said the new cases were detected among various nationalities after an additional 26,195 tests were carried out. She also said that the rate of infection does not exceed 0.12 per cent of the population of the UAE. ''We reassure the general public that we will spare no effort to address this crisis and curb the spread of the virus,'' she noted. The media briefing was also attended by Dr. Farida Al Hosani, official spokesperson of the UAE health sector, who also provided an update on coronavirus-related developments and measures taken to mitigate its impact. Dr. Farida spoke about the long-term side effects of the virus after recovery, referring to some reports claiming that coronavirus leaves some effects in a very small group of people. The effects that the virus may have on the lungs, causing their fibrosis and the inability to do some of the activities that they were doing previously, such as difficulty walking long distances and shortness of breath. Dr. Farida advised the patient who have recovered from the virus to follow a healthy lifestyle, such as maintaining healthy food and refraining from smoking. There are no cases, however, in the UAE that were infected with the virus again after recovery, she added.
