Coronavirus: nine new Covid-19 screening centres to open in Abu Dhabi and Dubai

In total, there will be 24 facilities across the country, capable of processing more than 115,000 tests each week

Mass testing across the country is credited with saving lives and allowing the economy to reopen gradually. All photos by Victor Besa / The National

A mass testing campaign aims to screen all workers living in Abu Dhabi’s Mussaffah area

The testing is free of cost, said the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi.

Free transportation is provided to take workers from their accommodation to testing centres.

The initiative announced by the Abu Dhabi Media Office, said no legal action will be taken against those who are living in the emirate on expired visas.

“Testing campaign and sanitisation [are] to be conducted in gradual phases, and in coordination with targeted blocks,” said the Abu Dhabi Media Office.

The main medical registration area at the Seha facility in Mussaffah.

Another queue sends visitors to a line where they are processed by handing over their Emirates ID card and phone number.

A staff member of the center directs a workers to the next area at the screening centre.

A high body temperature of 38°C could indicate signs of fever, a common coronavirus symptom.

Visitors must complete a brief questionnaire to help nurses understand the health status of those waiting in line.

On arrival in Mussaffah, workers walk through a sanitisation mist shower before entering the tented clinic.

Workers and residents queue in front of the sanitising gate before they can enter the main tent screening centre.

Gillian Duncan

Abu Dhabi Healthcare Services (Seha) will increase its weekly Covid-19 testing capability by more than two-thirds in the coming days.

The hospital group is opening nine facilities across the country and increasing the operating hours of some of its centres.

It will help Seha process 7,000 more tests a week, representing a rise of 72 per cent.

The new screening centres will be located in Al Shamkha, Al Madina and the Corniche in Abu Dhabi, Al Daher in Al Ain City and City Walk in Dubai.

Al Dhafra Hospitals, which is part of the Seha group, has also added three new centres in Silaa, Mirfa and Liwa.

All centres in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain will open six days a week, which is up from five days.

As a result, Seha’s weekly capacity will rise to more than 115,000.

Last week, the UAE announced all Emiratis and their domestic worker employees will be tested for the coronavirus free of charge.

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Disabled people, pregnant women, residents over the age of 50, those who show symptoms or have been in contact with positive cases are also tested for free.

All workers living in Mussaffah are also being screening free of charge.

Everyone else must pay a Dh370 fee through the Seha app.

The UAE is mass testing people for coronavirus to identify undiagnosed cases and asymptomatic patients.

The programme aims to end the outbreak by tracing and isolating new cases and their contacts. More than 1.6 million tests have been carried out so far.

Those who wish to get tested can book an appointment at any of the 24 drive-through testing centres across the country.

Updated: May 21, 2020, 9:53 AM