‘UAE will not let you down’

If there’s one thing any patient in the UAE will vouch for, it’s the fact that they could not have been in better hands. Whether it is Liu Yujia, a 73-year-old visitor from Wuhan, China, who was the first patient to have fully recovered in the UAE or Aubrey Escano, 27, a Filipina from Abu Dhabi who is currently under quarantine, there has been only praise and gratefulness for the UAE for the manner in which coronavirus cases are handled.

Escano, in her message, said: “I would like to tell Covid-19 patients not to lose hope, not to worry and continue the fight because the UAE will not let them down.” The exemplary patient care apart, the UAE has also hit international headlines for carrying out a record number of laboratory tests for coronavirus. According to the Ministry of Health and Prevention, the UAE leads global coronavirus testing with 1.5 million tests conducted since the beginning of the outbreak. The UAE daily testing average equals a four-month average of Covid-19 testing in other countries. Addressing a UAE Government remote meeting yesterday, Minister of Health and Prevention Abdul Rahman Bin Mohammad Al Owais said, “The UAE’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic is unique and different from other countries. The UAE has shown exceptional management of the crisis, while leveraging other countries’ experiences. However, the level of response was different, given the demographic composition in the country, which is home to more than 200 nationalities, and its distinct resources, readiness and experiences in many sectors.”

On May 1, doctors and researchers at the Abu Dhabi Stem Cell Centre also achieved a major breakthrough with a promising stem cell treatment for Covid-19 patients.

The Ministry of Economy even granted a patent for the development of the innovative method, which was administered to 73 Covid-19 patients, all of whom were cured of the virus using stem cells.

Researchers, who have completed the initial phase of clinical trials, are now working on demonstrating the efficacy of the treatment.

Now that is no mean achievement, by any measure.

I would like to tell Covid-19 patients not to lose hope, not to worry and continue the fight because the UAE will not let them down.”

Aubrey Escano

| Filipina who is under quarantine