The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The UAE Health Ministry on Sunday announced 294 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to 1,798. The new cases identified are in a stable condition, being monitored and receiving treatment.

The ministry also announced that 19 cases fully recovered from the coronavirus, after receiving treatment, bringing the total recovered cases to 144.

UAE ministry extended its National Sterilisation Programme. The team continued their disinfection drive Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman.

The National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, NCEMA, announced on Wednesday the launch of 'Weqaya,' a virtual platform designed to raise public health awareness in relation to the coronavirus, and provide reliable updates and solutions as well as preventative health and safety measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Dr Farida Al Hosani, the official spokesperson for the UAE health sector, highlighted the latest COVID-19 developments in the country and the measures taken by Emirati authorities to combat the spread of the pandemic.

Dr Al Hosani explained: 'Weqaya seeks to raise public awareness and avoid coronavirus infection in a simple way. Users will also have the opportunity to communicate with medical and health experts by sending in queries via the website.’

She announced the formation of the Weqaya Field Team, which consists of volunteers from various nationalities, to conduct public awareness campaigns among members of diverse communities. A call centre was also launched to provide information, guidelines and instructions in coordination with other health call centres through the toll free contact 800-WEQAYA.

Dr Al Hosani revealed the UAE has established a new massive laboratory to address the need for population-scale detection and diagnosis of COVID-19. The laboratory is capable of conducting tens of thousands of real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, RT-PCR, tests per day and is the first in the world of this scale to be operational outside of China.