Kerala sent a  105-member medical team for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a mission to treat COVID-19 patients there early on Wednesday as part of an initiative of VPS healthcare group based in the gulf nation.

In a release the company said that the team comprises of nurses and other healthcare pesonnel included 30 employees of VPS health care group, who were stranded in Kerala due to the lockdown after coming on a vacation.

All the members departed to Abu Dhabi from Cochin international airport on a specially chartered Etihad aircraft.

The team members will be working in the critical care units of various COVID-19 designated hospitals across the Emirates.

This will further strengthen the efforts of the UAE government in combating COVID-19, it said.

Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Health in both countries gave a nod to the medical team after which the travel date was decided, according to the company release.

Of the 105 members who arrived in the UAE, 75 are recruits from India who have come to join the gulf nation’s battle against the pandemic.

“We extend our deep gratitude to the governments of India and the UAE, and the state government of Kerala for its support of this medical mission,” said VPS Healthcare Director (India) Hafiz Ali Ullat.

“In UAE, we have been working with the government from the beginning.
Sending a medical team is a part of our continuous effort in supporting the government there during this pandemic. The medical team will be following all the travel guidelines and maintain social distancing norms even on the flight,” he said.

A senior nurse among the medical team, Vinod Sebastian, said that it was a proud moment for each of them.

“It is our duty to serve and treat the patients during this unprecedented crisis. For the majority of the nurses in the medical team, it is their maiden journey to a foreign country… we are very confident and motivated. We are taking it up as a challenge,” he said.

All the members of the team underwent a COVID-19 test on Sunday and all of them tested negative, the release said.

The travel of the nurses to Kochi was facilitated by the Office of the Kerala Chief Minister , reported news agency PTI.

Kerala had reported India’s first case of novel Coronavirus on January 30. A student, who was studying at Wuhan University in China and returned to his home state, had been confirmed of being infected with the virus.

The number of Coronavirus cases in the state is 642 with 497 recoveries so far. While there were 4 fatalities due to the pandemic, according to the Health Ministry data.