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Covid-19 in UAE: Drop in cases this week offers hope in virus fight

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Dubai - Medical experts have noted that the trend offers hope of promising results in the fight against the pandemic.

Published: Sat 10 Apr 2021, 8:33 PM

Updated: Sat 10 Apr 2021, 8:39 PM

  • By
  • Team KT

The UAE has witnessed four days of below 2,000 new Covid-19 cases this week, the only second such instance recorded so far this year since the spurt in infections from the first week of January.

Medical experts have noted that the trend offers hope of promising results in the fight against the pandemic. The country is surely racing towards a 9-million vaccine dose milestone with high levels of optimism.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention (Mohap) reported 1,931 new cases on Saturday. This week has witnessed a decline in the new cases: Monday (2,012), Tuesday (1,988), Wednesday (1,883), Thursday (2,112) and Friday (1,875). Four days in a week with less than 2,000 new cases are statistics seen after nearly 12 weeks across four months.

Lastly, it was the first five days of January (1,856, 1,963, 1,590, 1501 and 1,967) when such data was registered. Ever since then, there has never been a week with more than three days of cases being below 2,000.

The ministry on Saturday announced that the overall number of cases hit 481,937. Also, 51,471 vaccine doses were administered in the past 24 hours taking the total to 8,975,014 with a distribution rate of 90.74 doses per 100 people.

Doctors said the massive testing and nationwide vaccination drive, both lifelines, are leading to a steady dip in the number of cases and controlling the spread of the virus.

Dr Shajir Gaffar, CEO of VPS Healthcare (Dubai and the Northern Emirates) underlined that the trend of declining number of cases assures that there is no threat of a second wave as seen in the other parts of the world.

“This trend shows that the constructive measures taken by the health authorities have been effective to contain the pandemic situation. This is the result of a collaborative effort of the public and private sector healthcare groups. Now we must continue to follow precautionary measures more aggressively. If the testing and vaccination drive progress at this pace and people take all safety measures, then we will see promising results in this fight against the deadly virus. It is easier said than done. It will require a huge effort from not just the health authorities, which they are already implementing, but from the people.”

Doctors noted another sign of an improving pandemic situation was the resumption of elective surgeries at the group’s hospital.

Dr Sherbaz Bichu, chief executive officer, Aster Hospitals and Aster Clinics (UAE) and specialist anesthetist, said that pending elective surgical cases have been performed at the hospitals.

“In the past few weeks, we are witnessing a declining trend in the number of new cases of Covid-19 well complemented by the proactive, relentless efforts in the number of vaccination doses offered to the general public. These two aspects signify population immunity in the community. Applauding credit goes to the Dubai Health Authority for such tremendous achievement,” Dr Bichu added.

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com



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