Dubai: The first batch of 88 nurses from India arrived in the UAE to help the country’s stretched healthcare professionals amid a surge in the number of COVID-19 infections in the Gulf nation that has crossed 17,000, according to media reports.
The Ministry of Health and Prevention said the UAE reported 624 new cases on Saturday, taking the total number of infections to 17,417.
The number of fatalities reached 185 after 11 deaths were reported on the day.
The nurses, who are from Aster DM Healthcare hospitals in the states of Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra, will be put under quarantine for 14 days after which they will be assigned to various field hospitals as per requirement, the Khaleej Times reported.
India’s Ambassador to UAE Pavan Kapoor said that this would further strengthen the long-standing friendship between the two countries.
According to a report in the Gulf News, the arrival of the nurses was facilitated in a tie-up with Aster DM Healthcare group, with the support from the Indian Consulate and the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
