UAE records 2 more coronavirus cases, total number reaches 11

The United Arab Emirates said on Friday it had registered two new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of people diagnosed with the virus in the Gulf Arab state to 11.

The new cases in the UAE were detected in a 34-year-old Filipino national and a 39-year-old Bangladeshi national who had contact with a Chinese national who had been diagnosed with the virus, the health ministry said in a statement.

It said the two were in stable condition.

The UAE, a major international air transit centre and tourism and business hub, recorded its first coronavirus case on January 28 when four members of a Chinese family were diagnosed.

It has since suspended passenger flights to mainland China, with the exception of Beijing.

Most of those diagnosed in the UAE with the virus have been Chinese citizens. Another Filipino national and one Indian national have also been infected, according to the health ministry. Three of those previously diagnosed, all Chinese nationals, have fully recovered, the ministry has said.

The government has not disclosed where patients were being treated or which parts of the country they visited.

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The coronavirus, officially called COVID-19, has swept across numerous countries in the world and gave rise to increased fears of its impact since it was first identified in China’s Wuhan province earlier this year.

More than 2,100 people have died in China and new research suggesting the virus is more contagious than previously thought has heightened international alarm over the outbreak.

Though the respiratory virus has not had much of a prominent presence in the Middle East as a whole, countries in the region have implemented a series of preventative measures in order to avoid infections taking root. The measures include the UAE ordering citizens not to touch noses in their traditional greetings, and Turkey’s manufacturing of a “fast-results” kit to test for the virus.

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