UAE to shorten nightly curfew by two hours

Nightly curfew, which is meant to prevent spread of the novel coronavirus, will run from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m as of Saturday.

DUBAI - The United Arab Emirates will shorten from Saturday by two hours a nightly curfew meant to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, the country's state news agency said on Friday.

The curfew, officially called "the national sanitisation program", will run from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m as of Saturday. It currently starts at 8 p.m. and ends at 6 a.m.

In line with the Ministry of Health and Prevention’s plans to increase COVID-19 testing throughout the country for the early detection of infections, particularly among those who had contact with already infected cases, the Ministry has conducted more than 36,000 additional tests.

Testing resulted in the detection of 638 new cases among various nationalities, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 33,170 and 260 deaths from the disease.

The new cases in question are in a stable condition and undergoing the necessary medical treatment.

The Ministry also announced the death of two patients from various nationalities due to complications arising from COVID-19. The total number of deaths from COVID-19 in the country now stands at 260.

The Ministry also announced that 412 people infected with the virus have fully recovered after receiving the necessary medical care, bringing the total number of recoveries to 17,097.