COVID-19 pandemic no longer key priority for private healthcare companies

COVID-19 pandemic no longer key priority for private healthcare companies

The United Arab Emirates must “learn to live with COVID-19” and the pandemic response is no longer a key priority for businesses such as the country’s private healthcare companies, the CEO of one of the largest companies has said.

Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.“We never wanted to become COVID-reliant,” Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil, founder, chairman and managing director of VPS Healthcare Group, said. “We didn’t want to get into the business of quick wins… We went in quick, and we came out quick.”

Vayalil also said while he believes face masks “are here to stay,” other safety protocols to manage the spread of the virus will continue to diminish.

“We won’t see the daily [COVID-19] numbers anymore,” he said. “We need to learn to live with COVID and we have started to. It will become just like the flu.”

“I don’t think getting scared and moving away is going to be an option, especially with the new waves. We have to get back to normality for the sake of the economy… It rather becomes part of us, and we all have to continue to learn to be living with something like that amongst us.”

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