UAE | Health
H1N1 cases put pressure on hospitals in UAE
Scanners installed in malls and firms told to grant necessary leave.
- By Abdullah Rasheed and Dina El Shammaa, Abu Dhabi Editor, and Staff Reporter
- Published: 22:45 July 21, 2009
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archive
- There are currently 110 H1N1 cases in the UAE, of which 30 originated here.
Abu Dhabi: Hospitals in the UAE do not have enough manpower to handle the H1N1 cases streaming in, an official warned on Wednesday, as the World Health Organisation (WHO) said countries could consider closing schools to curb its spread.
The official, from the National Committee for Combating Swine Flu, said hospitals have been receiving on average two cases daily for the past two months.
The UAE announced urgent steps on Tuesday to tackle the virus, including setting up thermal scanners at malls and giving companies the right to cancel residence visas of employees who contract it abroad. Companies are also being advised to grant two weeks' leave to employees who return to the UAE and show symptoms.
There are currently 110 H1N1 cases in the country, of which 30 originated here.
British researchers writing in the journal Lancet said governments must draft plans for when and how to close schools if the pandemic worsens.
"School closure is one of the measures that could be considered by countries," WHO spokeswoman Alphaluck Bhatiasevi said.
Inputs from Reuters
Your comments
Traveling to other countries must be subject to a certificate that verifies that passenger is H1N1 safe. This seems a better way to control this disease. This way a victim will stay in the same country with all reasons of infection till he/she is cured. This will fully protect countries that do not have infection source. The same goes for Umrah/Haj. After this rule is implemented every country can have their own ways to control and prevent H1N1.
Karim
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 22, 2009, 15:21
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