Dubai left nothing to chance while screening cases

Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary | Chief Reporter

The speed and precision with which millions of RT-PCR (Reverse Transcript-Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests were conducted throughout the pandemic was one of the most crucial factors in containing the transmission of COVID-19 in Dubai and the UAE. The efficiency of this operation helped frontline workers in quickly identifying the confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 and providing them immediate isolation and medical facilities.

It was not easy at first and several teams had to work round the clock initially to put the systems in place.

Dr Hanan Al Suwaidi, Head of Testing stream in Dubai’s COVID-19 Command and Control Centre (CCC) and Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the Mohammad Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) shared with Gulf News the experience of her team.

“At the beginning, when the pandemic struck, we all were dealing with several unknown factors and worked round the clock to tackle the challenge and protect the community,” recalled Dr Al Suwaidi who spent several hours in the laboratories, trying to understand the process of objective testing.

“We established a smooth workflow. One of the most important milestones that we achieved was the recruitment of the team that would work on ramping up the testing capacity. This involved working on optimising the methodology for the number of PCR tests we could conduct in one single day in Dubai. We worked on not only ramping up the capacity, but also the turnaround time from the time of collection of a swab sample to the time of reporting the test result. Obviously, there were a lot of processes within and we wanted to make sure we were achieving the goal by providing ease of access, safety and testing quality for the entire community,” Dr Al Suwaidi said.

Commendable collaboration

In order to achieve the goals, the testing stream spared no efforts. “We had representatives from the private sector, experts from the laboratory medicine, administrators, professors, scientists and sometimes we called in process engineers to make sure we were building the right framework and systems to serve the community,” she added.

It was not just a question of increasing the number of tests. Quality control and standardisation of methodology were just as important in order to ensure uniform test parameters all through the emirate — with speed and accuracy of tests.

Dr Al Suwaidi said her team worked on this right from the onset of the pandemic.

“While we were building this framework, parallel to that, we were also setting up the testing quality standards in Dubai. We had to make sure every single laboratory or clinic that was providing the service was following the right standards and we could compare the results of different providers. The results were also published and shared with the community in early 2020.”

Safety protocols established

Right from sample collection to testing to results and isolation or treatment of patients, Dubai left nothing to chance. Definite and set protocols were followed to ensure effective control and containment of the infection.

Dr Al Suwaidi attributed the success to the integrated approach adopted by Dubai’s COVID-19 CCC.

“The CCC was established to control this pandemic and it worked to establish the safest protocols in all fields of execution. Its approach relied on the government guidelines at all times. We, in Dubai, say this proudly that every entity in the community collaborated and cooperated with the CCC,” she said.

A wholly integrated approach

Elaborating on how this was achieved, Dr Al Suwaidi said: “From the testing point of view, we had support from public and private sectors. We had all the digital entities in Dubai involved in building the data repository. When it came to identifying the positive cases and making sure they were safely in quarantine at home or at isolation centres, the hospitality and transport authorities stepped in. I would say the integrated approach, where every entity played its role to perfection, providing necessary resources, ensured a seamless journey to good health for our community.”

To illustrate the point, Dr Al Suwaidi cited an instance of how the public and private sectors came together to carry out mass screenings in the Red Zones in Dubai and ensured these areas became COVID-free.

“This happened early in 2020, when we were containing the transmission. A group of public health surveillance teams on the ground comprising members of the public and private health sectors, was supporting mass screening and testing. There was a display of very good synergy between the community and all the government entities to make sure that this was done in a very controlled manner and it proved to be a success in containing the transmission rates,” she said.

Improvisation and ongoing research

Another commendable aspect of the testing committee was the eagerness to experiment and carry on research to provide better methodology in testing. One of the finest examples of this was in late 2020 when a joint research team from MBRU and Dubai Health Authority (DHA) established a mechanism to ensure the safety and veracity of collection of saliva samples for PCR tests.

Dr Al Suwaidi said: “We were constantly updating data and improvising and tweaking systems to make testing easier and reach our goals. There was ongoing collaborative research being conducted by teams from MBRU and DHA. The aim was to make testing easier for the community. Our research team published reports on the success of saliva testing, which made it easier and less painful for children in particular to get their PCR tests done. While the modes of molecular processing of samples are the same, the collection of saliva sample made it easier for children to be tested – compared to collecting nasal swabs from them.”

Brilliant team work

“I can say that it was definitely an admirable synergy and team work that brought the best results. Each and every member working on this project came together to combat COVID-19. In the initial stages, this cooperation and collaboration and willingness to work round-the-clock meant a lot, especially when little was known about this new virus and there was uncertainty around it,” she said.

“This is the spirit of Dubai — everyone working together, selflessly, putting the needs of the people ahead of everything else. I was blessed to be a part of this team. Also, without our leadership’s support and guidance, we would not have been able to achieve this success. I would like to extend a big thank you to all my team members and the leadership that helped and supported us in containing the spread of this virus,” Dr Al Suwaidi said.