RIYADH: The UAE announced on Tuesday that it will shift education to remote learning for the first two weeks of the second term, starting from Monday. Speaking during a government media briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic, Hazza Al-Mansouri, spokesman for the education sector, said this applies to schools, universities and training centers nationwide, while specialization relying on practical activities, laboratories, clinical exercise in universities and training centers will be subject to hybrid learning systems. He said all students are required to provide negative PCR tests results (taken within 96 hours) when they resume physical learning and a “Green Pass System” would be applied to parents who wish to enter educational facilities. He added that the educational sector was ready to address any emergencies and that the country is constantly monitoring the pandemic and its development and these decisions are subjected to change, “to facilitate the safe return to learning and ensure public health and safety of students, teachers and educational staff.” Educational administrations will contact parents on the learning system and health situation, Al-Mansouri added. The UAE registered the highest number of daily coronavirus cases in six months as it recorded 1,846 infections on Tuesday, raising the total to 754,911 since the pandemic began. Dr. Noura Al-Ghaithi, spokeswoman for the UAE health sector, said while the world is witnessing a significant rise in COVID-19 cases, leading several countries to announce states of emergency and extreme medical readiness, especially during the holiday season, “the UAE is addressing this increase in cases with advanced medical preventive systems. She urged everyone eligible to receive the vaccine booster shots as it is the “critical factor” in helping protect health and safety and strengthening collective immunity. The UAE remains one of the top countries in the world for vaccination rates, with 99 percent of the population having received the first dose of the vaccine, and 91.80 percent fully vaccinated. More than 22.5 million doses have been administered so far. On Monday, the UAE authorized the emergency use of the new Sinopharm protein-based vaccine, which uses protein from the spinal cord that surrounds the virus, as a booster as it will “achieve more comprehensive results to ensure higher effectiveness in preventing variants,” she added. The vaccine will be offered as a booster shot to o people over the age of 18 who received the Sinopharm vaccine from the beginning of next year.