DUBAI: The UAE is carrying out clinical trials of plasma therapy to treat COVID-19 patients, state news agency WAM reported on Sunday.
The treatment takes antibody-rich plasma from recovered coronavirus patients and injected into people who have severe cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
The UAE says it is also looking at potential drug treatments such as chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in efforts to treat patients.
“Some preliminary studies have shown the effectiveness of drugs such as chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 treatment. These are drugs used in the country, and their effectiveness, as well as that of other antiviral drugs, is being continuously monitored,” the official spokesperson of the UAE health sector, Farida Al-Hosani, said.
Hosani said that there has been an increase in testing in recent weeks to detect more cases, limit the spread of the virus, and isolate those who came in contact with patients.
The government announced that 170 people had recovered from COVID-19 after receiving the necessary care, bringing the total number of recoveries to 588. Following additional testing of over 20,000 people in the past few days, 376 individuals were confirmed positive, bringing the total number of cases to 3,736.
