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UAE Covid: Doctors explain why new infections are more than recoveries

Abu Dhabi - Trend must be viewed as a positive development, experts say.

April registered the lowest number of new Covid-19 cases this year after the highs recorded in January and February. However, since April 10, the number of new infections has been more than recoveries – a pattern seen for the first time this year in the UAE.

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But medical experts assured the trend must be viewed as a positive development of the nation bending the Covid curve with a steady number of low cases largely remaining between 1,700 to 2,200.

“Once the cases reach the peak and then plateau, the recoveries start increasing and outnumber the daily cases. However, once the number of daily cases reduces, the recoveries can be less than the daily or equal to it. The other reason could be that the cases have been consistent around 1,800-2,000 cases per day with no decline below 1,500 or less than 1,000. Secondly, few cases are severe or critical, which are taking more days to recover hence the reason for less recoveries,” said Dr Sunil Vyas, pulmonology (specialist), Aster Hospital, Al Qusais.

On Saturday, 1,735 new cases and 1,701 recoveries were reported from across the country.

“This can be seen as a positive trend. What we are witnessing could be a sign of actual bending of the curve. However, it is too early to make such a prediction and declare victory as new variants of virus, found in parts of the world, are more contagious and fatal. So, we have to continue to take precautionary measures,” Dr Vyas added.

More than 95,700 new Covid cases were reported in January, 87,900 in February, 69,900 in March and 58,700 in April. Dr Prasanna Kumar, critical care specialist at Medeor Hospital in Dubai, pointed out that with a high number of cases in the first few months, many patients are still recovering, which explains the comparatively lower count of recoveries.

“Earlier this year, we saw an increase in the daily number of Covid cases in the UAE. Some of them require longer hospital care, especially the elderly and those with certain medical conditions need more extended hospital stay than usual. ICU care itself can be lengthy, especially in complicated cases.”

Dr Kumar stressed the UAE’s fight against the pandemic is in the right direction.

“Strict adherence to safety instructions and vaccinations have brought down the number of daily reported cases from 4,000 to less than 2,000. Still, new cases requiring hospital care are being reported every day. When these new cases and cases that have not yet recovered and remain in the hospital are considered together, there is an impression that recovery is low. Instead of looking at it separately, we should consider the same in the above context. We have come a long way in the fight against Covid. The effective measures adopted by the authorities are in the right direction and resulted in reducing the cases. People should continue to follow the protocols and not let our guards down.”

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com