PH diplomat says UAE gov’t aims to test all residents for COVID-19

CALOOCAN CITY, June 8 (PIA) -- The country’s diplomat stationed in Abu Dhabi, the largest and richest emirate and the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Tuesday said the government there aims to test all of its residents for COVID-19 infection.

During the Laging Handa Public Briefing, Philippine Ambassador to Abu Dhabi Hjayceelyn Quintana said even Filipinos stand to benefit from the “house-to-house” screening being conducted by health authorities in the emirates.

“Very serious ho kasi sila, ang kanilang aim is to have all residents tested. Of the 9.6 million population, 3 million were already tested which is about 301% of the entire population,” Quintana said.

“So nakakasama po ang ating expatriates sa tine-test nila. Libre po ang test. Lalo na ngayon na nagbabalik na sa trabaho ang mga tao, they want to make sure nan a-test itong mga bumabalik,” she added.

The country continues to increase testing capacity for COVID-19, with additional 2 million tests to be performed in the coming two months, across the emirates.

On Saturday, the UAE recorded 716 new cases of COVID-19 and three further deaths.

More than 71,000 additional tests for the coronavirus have been carried out, the largest single daily number reported to date. Saturday's figures took the total number of cases to 50,857 and the death toll to 321.

The number of daily cases has risen from below 400 last week to more than 600 in recent days, though test numbers have also risen.

Quintana said the national figures are not broken down into nationalities, however, they were able to confirm that a number of Filipinos have recovered from COVID-19.

“Bumubuti na rin po at napapasin po namin iyan na itong mga national figures na nakikita natin ay hindi naman broken down into nationalities, pero naitala natin na maraming nakaka-recover sa ating mga kababayan,” she said.

“I would say 78% which is reflective also of the national figure. I think 40,000 ang kanilang recoveries against 51,000 na na-infect. Hindi po nagkakalayo ang recoveries din sa ating mga kababayan,” she added.
 (PIA NCR)

Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)