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Covid: 92% patients in Abu Dhabi showed no persistent symptoms

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Covid screening centre at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi. — File photo

Covid screening centre at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi. — File photo

Abu Dhabi - Survey conducted by the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi showed just 8 per cent respondents experienced long Covid

Published: Sat 17 Jul 2021, 9:08 PM

Updated: Sat 17 Jul 2021, 10:40 PM

In a major boost to the effectiveness of the vaccination and screening campaigns, a recent survey by the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi found that 92 per cent of people showed no persistent Covid-19 symptoms after testing negative.

The survey, conducted over a period of two weeks and included 2,000 respondents in the emirate, recorded only 8 per cent respondents experiencing long Covid, i.e., those people who continue to have symptoms for weeks or months.

“Just 8 per cent respondents experienced long Covid, in line with other international studies, 39 per cent experienced some symptoms for up to one week and 5 per cent experienced at least a symptom for 8 weeks or more,” the survey said.

Changes in mood and energy levels were found to be the most common symptoms of long Covid.

“About 52 per cent people felt tired, 35 per cent having persistent coughs and 27 per cent reporting a negative mood.”

More than half of the long Covid respondents, at 52 per cent, were able to do their day-to-day activities as normal.

Meanwhile, the survey found that adults were twice as likely to be hospitalised as children, and 2.5 times more likely if they are aged 40 and older. Hospitalisation is rare for those aged 19 years of age or below and without comorbidities.

Analysing the smoking prevalence, the survey found that vaping increased the risk of hospitalisation.

While 13 per cent of vapers who participated in the study required hospitalisation, more than three times of those who don’t smoke, the number was down to 6 per cent among smokers.

Separately, obese people were found to be 70 per cent less likely to be asymptomatic and three times more likely to be hospitalised.

Comorbidities were present in many people who developed severe Covid-19 symptoms or required hospitalisation. About 31 of the respondents were obese, 24 per cent had asthma, 14 per cent had respiratory conditions or high blood pressure and 6 per cent had diabetes.

Health authorities in Abu Dhabi have been conducting various surveys including seroprevalence, efficacy of vaccination among others. The emirate has been taking timely intervention measures to contain the spread of the virus. With the detection of the Delta variant and rising mortality rate across the country, the National Sterilisation Programme will resume from Monday along with strict testing norms for entry into the emirate.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention reported conducting 299,275 PCR tests, revealing 1,565 new cases, 1,508 recoveries and four deaths across the country.

So far, a total of 16.34 million doses of vaccines have been administered at a distribution rate of 165.23 doses per 100 people. More than 68 per cent of the UAE population is fully vaccinated.



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