New Abu Dhabi quarantine facility can serve nearly 17,000 Covid-19 patients

Abu Dhabi - Al Razeen Health Quarantine Complex is operated by medical staff, administrators and security personnel.

A new quarantine facility has been set up in Al Razeen area of Abu Dhabi, which can accommodate close to 17,000 Covid-19 patients, including its fourth phase which was readied in a record time and can accept 9,984 patients.

The Abu Dhabi Media Office said Al Razeen Health Quarantine Complex is operated by medical staff, administrators and security personnel, and delivers the necessary services and daily meals to all patients during their quarantine period.

Dr Partha Banerjee, CEO of Al Mazroui Medical Centre who heads the management of patients at these facilities, said there are two quarantine facilities in Al Razeen.

"Al Razeen 4 is having more than 9,980 beds and Al Razeen 2 about 7,000. We have been managing these facilities for the last three weeks," said Dr Banerjee, who also manages a 205-bed field hospital in Al Razeen.

Faisal Al Kamali, vice-president - facility and infrastructure management at the Ministry of Health and Prevention (Mohap), said the new phase has 2,784 rooms.

"It accommodates 9,984 patients, as well as medical staff, administrators, security personnel and the police. The complex delivers all the necessary services to the patients, including three meals a day and any personal items that are required," said Al Kamali.

"We thank the UAE leaders for the support and to all the entities involved, including the Abu Dhabi Emergency and Crisis Committee for the Covid-19 Pandemic and the police, who have helped us to set up this project in a record period of time."

Several field hospitals have been set up in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and the northern emirates to accommodate Covid-19 patients.

In April, three hospitals were set up in the UAE, including two in Abu Dhabi and one in Dubai. They were developed by the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha), the UAE's largest healthcare network.

One of the Abu Dhabi hospitals that accommodates 1,200 patients was set up in the Emirates Humanitarian City located in Mohamed Bin Zayed city while the second hospital was opened at the Abu Dhabi Exhibition Centre. It spreads across 31,000sqm and has capacity to treat 1,000 patients.

Mass testing continues

The Covid-19 testing campaign for groups of residents living in high-density areas in the emirate is under way as part of the National Screening Programme.

Last week, authorities implemented a week-long movement ban in Abu Dhabi, which started on June 2 to conduct mass testing to ensure maximum people are reached in an effort to combat the spread of Covid-19.

Officials said that with the expansion of the testing project to include high-density areas and to ensure that the largest possible number of the emirate's population is reached as quickly as possible, authorities had to ban the movement between cities and reduce contact as much as possible.

On Sunday, authorities said that Al Mena Centre for National Screening receives more than 2,000 patients a day, with an average testing time of 20 minutes per person.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com

• Coronavirus
• Abu Dhabi