Dubai Health Authority has notified all health authorities in the emirate of the procedures to tackle the Corona virus, in a circular issued yesterday as part of its precautionary measures to confront it, confirming that no infection has been detected in the emirate.
The authority called for its circular to report immediately in the event that any person is suspected to be infected with the virus, especially since no treatment or vaccines have been established so far for the virus, while information indicates that the virus has spread outside China in several countries, including Thailand, Japan, South Korea and the United States.
The circular revealed that most cases of infection with this virus are linked epidemiologically to a large market for seafood and animals, which indicates that the origin of the pandemic is the animal, with the virus being confirmed from one person to another, and that symptoms of the disease are respiratory, where a high temperature occurs, accompanied by shortness of breath , And pneumonia.
And he identified three cases that are suspected: the person with severe respiratory disease, fever with coughing and shortness of breath, or a person who traveled to China 14 days before the appearance of these symptoms on him, or a person who has close contact with a confirmed case of infection during the past 14 days, Confirmation of the infection is already done through a laboratory examination.
The circular emphasized in its circular several controls to control infection in health care facilities, including the need for the infection control team to alert health workers to follow infection control measures transmitted through contact and spray, and to carry out the necessary education and awareness of this virus. The authority asked health facilities to constantly clean and disinfect hands, and to activate respiratory screening stations at the entrances to health facilities and facilities, to ensure early detection of those with acute respiratory disease.
The agency asked health care facilities to apply contact and spray precautions when dealing with any suspected or confirmed cases, and additional precautions should be taken into account, including wearing and testing an N95 mask appropriately, protecting eyes by wearing goggles or face shield, and impermeable gloves and apron.
The authority indicated that laboratory tests for nCOV2019 are conducted in national laboratories only, so all suspicious samples should be sent to Dubai Health Authority laboratories, and the test will be conducted to confirm suspected cases and those who have confirmed cases. The Department of Preventive Medicine at Dubai Health stressed that primary health care providers should be more vigilant when dealing with cases where previous symptoms appear.
In its instructions to the health facilities, the commission stressed that all persons suspected of infection with the new Corona virus enter isolation rooms, follow the standards and take the necessary precautions to control airborne diseases transmitted by contact during the treatment of any patient or dead body with symptoms of the virus.
It is advised to use lower respiratory specimens, but if patients do not have signs or symptoms of lower respiratory infection, or lower respiratory specimens are not feasible or clinically indicated, nasopharynx specimens should be collected in the manner followed in the MERS samples.
The authority explained that coordination is being carried out on transferring samples to the Dubai Health Authority with the Microbiology and Infection Control Unit of the Virus Laboratory at Latifa Hospital for Women and Children of the Authority.
Immediate contact
The Dubai Health Authority asked health care providers to immediately report all suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus, by immediately calling (0562253800) or (0562256769), provided that private sector facilities report cases of suspicion through the "artery" system, And the government sector through the "safety" system.