India Sends First Batch Of 88 Indian Nurses To UAE To Help Battle COVID-19

DUBAI: As part of India's effort to reach out to countries battling the coronavirus pandemic, the first batch of 88 nurses from India arrived in the UAE to help the country's stretched healthcare professionals. The number of COVID-19 infections in the Gulf nation have crossed 17,000.

The nurses, arrived from states of Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra and will be put under quarantine for 14 days after which they will be assigned to various field hospitals as per requirement, according to an international media report.

They arrived on a special flight at the Dubai airport on Saturday.

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.

India's Ambassador to UAE Pavan Kapoor said that this would further strengthen the long-standing friendship between the two countries.

"India and the UAE are showing how a strategic partnership translates into concrete cooperation on the ground in dealing with this pandemic.

Helping a friend in need is the motto of cooperation between our two countries," he said.

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.

The Indian nurses, who specialise in working in the intensive care unit, said that they are happy to be part of the initiative, the report read.

One nurse, Dipika Suraj Khavale had to leave his 2-year-old child back in India to be part of the team.

Also Read: COVID-19: India Records 20,000 New Cases In One Week