UAE anti-coronavirus work pays with 96.8% recovery rate

UAE - The multidisciplinary approach to the disease, strict safety protocols and fines for flouting safety measures, sanitisation drives, ease to access medical treatment and equipment have all helped the UAE keep the Covid numbers stable, according to Dr Dirar Abdullah, consultant and chair of internal medicine at Prime Hospital.

“The numbers in the UAE seem to have stabilised, ranging between 1,300 and 1,500. Most of the patients now are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and in just a matter of 10 days, they are considered “non-infectious” and are on their road to recovery. We have also seen many critically-ill patients spring back to life, thanks to the UAE government that has given the healthcare sector the infrastructure and resources to provide these patients best medical care. We now have the expertise, best equipment such as ventilators in abundance and the right medication,” he said.

Credits to efficient healthcare

Calling the high recovery rate, a “big achievement”, Dr Jyoti Upadhyay, internal medicine specialist at Aster Hospital — Mankhool, said: “The UAE has achieved a recovery rate of 96.7 per cent and mortality rate of 0.5 per cent, the lowest in the world. This became possible because of the aggressive measures taken by the government to enforce anti-Covid protocols. Also, widened Covid testing has helped detect asymptomatic cases. The strict implementation of quarantine has helped to keep the spread in check. The government is continuously urging the public to follow safety norms and the enforcement of various fines has definitely helped.

“The UAE has also figured among the top 10 countries in the world for coronavirus treatment. This was based on sophistication and effectiveness of efforts to monitor the spread of the virus, treatment of patients, in addition to the capacity to develop, test, validate and deploy experimental vaccines and treatments,” she added.

The number of new Covid cases in the UAE seems to level off, the number of daily recoveries is on the rise, and this is good news, stated Dr Jean Marc Gaeur, CEO RAK Hospital. “The strict measures put in place by the UAE regulatory bodies have allowed for a far better grip over the spread of Covid than many other parts of the world, where half-hearted and inefficient management has led to a situation that is totally spiralling out of control,” he said.

Dr Gaeur added that in sharp contrast to the beginning of the pandemic “we now have a far better understanding of what exactly the virus does to the body”. “Unlike earlier, we now have an armament of medications that, if given in-time, shorten the duration and severity of symptoms.”

Dr Iajaz Ahmed, medical director and internist at NMC Specialty Hospital — Al Ain, also credited the efficiency of the healthcare system. “One of the significant reasons for such a positive recovery rate is due to an integrated and well-managed healthcare system in the country,” he said.

“The home isolation and the institutional isolation has allowed patients with mild to moderate symptoms to recover at home and quarantine facilities, thus enabled the hospitals to attend to severe infection cases on priority. The UAE’s increased coronavirus testing has helped early diagnosis and segregation of the patients is yet another reason to combat the spread of the virus effectively resulting in a better recovery rate,” he added.