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Coronavirus: UAE reports 889 Covid-19 cases, 816 recoveries, 1 death

Over 179.4 million PCR tests have been conducted in the country so far

The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention on Wednesday reported 889 cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus, along with 816 recoveries and 1 death.

Total active cases stand at 18,929.

The new cases were detected through 226,920 additional tests.

The total number of cases in UAE as on August 10 are 1,001,445, while total recoveries stand at 980,178. The death toll now stands at 2,338.

A little over two-and-a-half years after it discovered its first Covid-19 infection, the UAE’s caseload now stands at more than one million. About 10 per cent of the country’s population have had the viral disease at some point in the last 30 months. If repeat infections are factored in, this rate would be even lower.

This is significantly lower than other countries around the world with similar population as that of the UAE.

Medical experts say that the country would have reached the 1 million-mark much sooner had it not been for its robust response mechanism to the pandemic. The UAE did not charge a single dirham for treating its Covid-19 patients and is continuing to administer vaccines and booster shots for free. The UAE has been the world’s most vaccinated country for a while now.

“Covid had several waves. The first wave … did not carry a high mortality, and the numbers were not that high then. However, the UAE government took a sensible attitude and started strict measures to ensure the time to enforce a lockdown,” said Emirati doctor Suhail Kazim, medical director, senior consultant surgeon, NMC Specialty Hospital, Dubai.

“Special units were created, hotels were evacuated to accommodate these cases, and selective hospitals were marked for handling these cases. Masks, protective gear … everything was distributed to all the healthcare personnel, and a hotline was established so that people would receive information on the spot and get support 24/7.”

When the world was hit by the pandemic, it induced a sense of fear in people around the world. Countries and cities worldwide went under lockdown, and hospital employees worked round the clock to ensure the safety of residents. Many Covid-19 warriors in the UAE were severely affected by the disease but kept their spirits high in fighting the virus - even when infected.

Jobish Gopinathan, a 33-year-old registered nurse at Aster Hospital, Mankhool, contracted Covid-19 in January 2021. Head nurse at the emergency department of the hospital, he led the nursing team and was the first in line to treat people with Covid-19.

He was admitted to the hospital and saw a slight improvement in his condition. Following this, he was shifted to the isolation facility of the Dubai Health Authority.

“My respiration was very poor. I was on high oxygen supply. The condition became so bad that the doctors shifted me to CPAP ventilation. I was lying in a prone position for days. It was the only way I could breathe,” said Gopinath.

Being in the ICU for a long resulted in other problems Gopinathan’s blood supply was not proper. “It caused some neurological issues,” he added.

It took over a month for Gopinathan to improve and breathe on his own. Though he was out of the ventilator, he could not move or walk. “I could only walk less than 10 meters. I would be exhausted and gasped for breath. The nursing and the physiotherapy team worked hard to improve the strength of my limbs. My right leg had a neuropathy issue. It lacked the strength, and I could not move it. It was after continuous physiotherapy for months that I could start walking properly,” said Gopinathan.