Coronavirus: UAE turns Dubai World Trade Centre into hospital for 3,000 patients

Authorities have converted the Dubai World Trade Centre into a field hospital that can house 3,000 coronavirus patients in a bid to ramp up the country’s capacity to treat people infected with the COVID-19.

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While Dubai hospitals currently have between 4,000 and 5,000 beds available, authorities are preparing to increase their capacity to up to 10,000 or more beds, Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority Humaid al-Qutami said at a press conference last week.

“We will have more than two field hospitals ready in Dubai in the coming days to be ready for any situation,” al-Outami said.

Across the country, mobile testing centers have been also launched as part of the UAE’s rapidly expanding coronavirus testing program. The country is conducting 32,000 tests at its recently opened drive-thru test centers and has also established a massive testing laboratory.

The UAE has also been using chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to successfully treat COVID-19 patients, according to the health ministry.

The UAE has been proactive in its enforcement of preventative measures to curb the outbreak and has imposed a 24-hour curfew in Dubai and extended a national disinfection campaign across the emirates.

A family medicine doctor with the Ministry of Health and Prevention told Al Arabiya English earlier this week that the UAE could flatten the curve within two to three weeks if people continue to adhere to preventative measures.

The UAE has reported 4,933 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 28 virus-related deaths.