Coronavirus: UAE reports 322 Covid-19 cases, 308 recoveries, no deaths

The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention on Saturday reported 322 cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus, along with 308 recoveries and no deaths.

Joyous scenes unfolded at Abu Dhabi’s LLH Hospital as colleagues of Arunkumar M. Nair welcomed him back to work after a gap of more than 15 months.

It was in July last year that the frontline warrior got infected with Covid-19 and suffered damage to his lungs, cardiac arrests, failure to breathe and was in a semi-conscious state for six months. The operation theatre technician at Burjeel Holdings staged a miraculous recovery, and Nair was discharged in January. However, it took him nine more months to be fully fit, and return to duty after a battle of nearly 450 days against Covid-19 and the recovery phase.

Since July last year, Nair was on prolonged extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support and survived multiple cardiac arrests. After his discharge in January, he had hoped to get back to work soon, but was faced with a long road to recovery ahead of him. He was staying in a flat near the hospital, which the company provided to help him access medical support whenever required.

Meanwhile, nasal vaccines could still be a powerful future weapon in the fight against Covid-19, despite "disappointing" recent trial results for an AstraZeneca spray, experts say.

By entering the body the same way as the virus, nasal vaccines aim to build immunity in the mucous membrane, that lines the nose and mouth.

This could block people from getting infected in the first place, and also potentially hamper those who have Covid, from spreading it further.

That would represent a huge boost compared to traditional shots in the arm, which have proved very effective at preventing severe Covid, but perform less well when it comes to stopping transmission.

• Dubai
• Abu Dhabi