In a bid to highlight the success of the healthcare sector's ongoing efforts in the fight against coronavirus, the Department of Health — Abu Dhabi, has confirmed that all private healthcare facilities in the emirate are now "COVID-19 free". All facilities pertaining to VPS Healthcare and NMC Healthcare in addition to Ain Al Khaleej Hospital in Al Ain are now completely free of coronavirus cases and are set to continue providing a full range of healthcare services to patients. Abu Dhabi's health department also underscored that several hospitals across the emirate have been designated to exclusively receive and treat coronavirus patients moving forward, including Sheikh Khalifa Medical City Hospital in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain Hospital in Al Ain. The department calls on citizens and residents of Abu Dhabi suffering from respiratory symptoms to visit one of the aforementioned healthcare providers to receive the appropriate care. Dr. Jamal Mohammed Al Kaabi, the acting undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi's health department, said: "Today, we are harvesting fruits from the labor of our brave front-line workers, who alongside our wise leadership have been pivotal in the fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In recent months the private health sector has proven that alongside its public counterpart, it plays an essential role in the effectiveness and sustainability of our healthcare sector as a whole." He added: "Looking ahead, we are dedicated to ensuring the readiness of the healthcare sector in the emirate to provide the necessary healthcare services to all citizens and residents at any time. Consequently, we have allocated some healthcare facilities to deal exclusively with any future coronavirus cases." Rashid Al Qubaisi, deputy chief executive officer, SEHA, commented, "SEHA has been playing a key role in the nation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and our efforts have been recognized globally. Because we are committed to continuing the success, we have rolled out various strategies and initiatives to foster a high level of preparedness as an organization. In collaboration with our partners, we are ensuring that the UAE community has access to the best health care and have dedicated Sheikh Khalifa Medical City and Al Ain Hospital to treating COVID-19 cases." "Today, all NMC Healthcare hospitals in Abu Dhabi are COVID-19 free. This includes NMC Royal Hospital, NMC Royal Women's Hospital, NMC Specialty Hospitals, and Bareen International Hospital. We are very proud of the hard work and dedication of our clinical and frontline staff in the fight against COVID and appreciate the support and collaboration of the Department of Health over the past four months," said Michael Davis, CEO of NMC Healthcare. "In spite of our absence of COVID inpatients today, our healthcare facilities remain on high-alert and all guidelines implemented to protect our staff, our patients and the community remain in place and we remain in close contact with the Department of Health." Mohamed Shamel Al Maamry, chairman of Ain Al Khaleej Hospital said: "We couldn't be more honored to be part of the frontline defense against COVID-19 and have the chance to contribute to the extraordinary efforts aimed at achieving our far-sighted leadership's vision, that is to constantly place the health and safety of the community first." "The UAE has made great strides in its journey to fight Covid-19 and the efforts are still ongoing. Today we are pleased to announce that Ain Al Khaleej hospital is free from COVID-19 cases and is ready to resume providing its healthcare services to the community." — WAM
