The phone call that started Abu Dhabi’s Covid-19 response

The phone call that started Abu Dhabi’s Covid-19 response

It was an early morning in February when Colonel Mohammed Al Khoury, Deputy of the Capital Police Department, Abu Dhabi Police received a call that would define the next six months of his life. The words were simple and direct: “Come to the crisis management center. We have a mission.”

The voice at the other end of the phone was that of Major-General Maktoum Ali Al Sharifi, Director-General of Abu Dhabi Police. The mission: novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

Colonel Al Khoury, who has received 23 medals in his illustrious career, had served almost five years in the police academy after graduation. However, the operation related to the unprecedented contagion was outside the realms of ordinary police work. He needed to coordinate with Abu Dhabi's fast-paced response in a bid to keep the public safe what has become the world's biggest public health crisis in this millennium.

Colonel Al Khoury said: “When I arrived at the police headquarters it was 8 am. General Maktoum had called five persons in and I was one of them. We were instructed to create a task force to work on the mission and everything was