ONE COMMAND,
MANY MEASURES
The UAE has pioneered drive-through tests in the Middle East, with an extensive swab test network across the country helping detect cases quickly. Field hospitals with a combined capacity of nearly 20,000 beds came up in quick succession across the emirates.
Virendra Saklani/Gulf News
A medical frontliner takes a nasal swab at a drive-through COVID-19 testing centre in Dubai.
While new precautionary measures were being continuously introduced, the authorities were also simultaneously setting up the necessary infrastructure for testing, quarantine, isolation and treatment of confirmed cases.
As flights continued to be suspended and retailers worked under restrictions, UAE remained one of the few countries in the world that could boast of food security to meet any eventuality. It kicked in a two-pronged approach to boost international supplies and support innovation among local farmers.
Even at the peak of the pandemic, the emirates did not see a scramble for food stuffs in supermarkets, as there was enough and more for everyone. So much so, that the generous government continued to live up to its reputation and regularly sent out aid to other affected countries.
The UAE’s unified chain of command to meet the challenge of the pandemic has been one of the key factors to the success of its managing the spread of coronavirus.
The health authorities in each of the emirates had to work in tandem with the UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) which had a centralised system taking overall charge.
This covered everything from precautionary measures, testing and treatment protocols down to the dissemination of any information, including daily updates on the cases. The one-command system left no room for confusion, whether in the mind of the individual authorities in the different emirates or the people they were catering to.
Extensive swab tests
Anticipating the surge in cases well before they struck, the health authorities went into overdrive to prepare for potential requirements. Field hospitals with a combined capacity of nearly 20,000 beds came up in quick succession across the emirates; Anyone with symptoms could walk into any hospital emergency to get tested, even as drive-through facilities were opened. The extensive swab test network across the country helped detect cases quickly.The introduction of the ALHOSN UAE app enabled contact tracing and entire blocks of people who were in touch with a positive patient could be quarantined in time. Testing was ramped up to such an extent that the UAE in no time came to be ranked among the world’s top five countries for per capita COVID-19 testing. The activation of telemedicine also made access to regular health care smooth and hassle-free under the trying circumstances.
Additional resources were also brought in from overseas to meet the needs of the community, with the staff serving at the field hospitals, isolation and quarantine facilities. And all this while, those who received COVID treatment were spared of the additional financial burden, with the cost of basic COVID-19 treatment coming for free.