The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The UAE Ministry of Health has conducted 137,203 COVID-19 tests in the past 24 hours using state-of-the-art equipment.

The ministry said it is planning to expand the scope of the testing to detect virus cases in the country.

The heath officials said that the tests resulted in the detection of 1,251 new cases of the coronavirus.

The infected cases are from different nationalities, and are receiving treatment.

The authorities said that they have registered 736 recoveries in the past 24 hours among the previous infected patients.

The ministry announced the death of a patient due to COVID-19 related to complications.

The ministry expressed its sincere condolences to the family of the deceased, and prayed for the speedy recovery of infected patients.

The authorities have urged members of the public to adhere to social distancing guidelines and precautionary measures to stop the spread of coronavirus in the country.     

The UAE authorities have also said that people should not hold private parties or large gatherings at home. It reiterates that such acts are punishable by law.

Last week the UAE Government announced that the country still maintains the lowest death rate due to COVID-19 in world.

The death rate decreased to 0.3% for the first time since the beginning of monitoring deaths due to Covid-19 in the UAE, which is one of the lowest rates in the world compared to the European Union, the Middle East and North Africa region and OECD.

The authorities said, “The rate of positive cases from tests remains 1%, similar to the previous week.”