A Dubai mother whose three-year-old daughter caught coronavirus has warned parents to "stop finding excuses" to step out of the house.
Fernanda Troy and her family spent almost 10 days in hospital and quarantine accommodation after testing positive for Covid-19.
The 36-year-old does not know where she, her daughter Cecilia, or husband Ivan came into contact with the virus.
But she said too many parents appeared to be unnecessarily taking their children out with them.
"Stop visiting your friends, stop going out - and stop finding excuses to step out of the house," she told The National after getting the all-clear.
The lockdown will last forever if we don't cooperate with efforts to stop the contamination
"As much as you keep going out, we’ll have to stay in. The lockdown will last forever if we don't cooperate with UAE’s efforts to stop the contamination."
Ms Troy, who is from Brazil and works in Dubai as a project coordinator, was first to test positive on March 19. Her husband was confirmed to have Covid-19 on March 20, and then their daughter on March 24.
Ms Troy was already in “semi-quarantine” around the time she was tested, having stayed home for a full week when the school holidays were brought forward by a week.
Ms Troy said her symptoms - which vary significantly between patients, included loss of smell and taste.
Cecilia was asymptomatic and remained well throughout the family's ordeal.
“My husband’s oxygen saturation was low. He stayed in the hospital, receiving oxygen for five days,” she said.
“When the Dubai Health Authority called me to give me my daughter’s result I was already prepared for it, because I was positive before her and I started thinking of what to do.
“I was really afraid of losing my little girl."
Ms Troy praised the care she and her family were given, particularly a paediatrician who was in touch every day.
"She was supporting and reassuring us that everything would be alright and that my daughter has a very good health," she said.
Ms Troy urged families to stay indoors and self-isolate.
“It’s extremely necessary to stay home. We are surrounded by online shops that deliver to our doorstep – groceries, veggies and pharmacies,” she said.
“Parents staying home is a way to protect the kids. Going out is assuming the risk of getting infected and bringing the virus inside your home."
Ms Troy said she believed keeping a distance from her mother, who was staying with the family when they were diagnosed, may have saved her life.
“My mum is 59 and has been a smoker for the past 40 years; her lungs wouldn’t support it. [Social distancing] was the way we decided to protect her,” said Ms Troy.
Dr Nandu Thalange, a consultant paediatric endocrinologist at Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital, said “no one is immune” to the virus, although children do appear to develop only mild symptoms.
He said he was most concerned for the large population of people with diabetes, who must ensure their condition is kept well under control.
"Even if you end up in hospital, it’s usually due to complication from diabetes or diabetes ketoacidosis," he said, in reference to a condition that causes the blood to become acidic.
UAE v Ireland
1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets
2nd ODI, January 12
3rd ODI, January 14
4th ODI, January 16
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures
October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA
More coverage from the Future Forum
if you go
The flights
Flydubai flies to Podgorica or nearby Tivat via Sarajevo from Dh2,155 return including taxes. Turkish Airlines flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Podgorica via Istanbul; alternatively, fly with Flydubai from Dubai to Belgrade and take a short flight with Montenegro Air to Podgorica. Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Podgorica via Belgrade. Flights cost from about Dh3,000 return including taxes. There are buses from Podgorica to Plav.
The tour
While you can apply for a permit for the route yourself, it’s best to travel with an agency that will arrange it for you. These include Zbulo in Albania (www.zbulo.org) or Zalaz in Montenegro (www.zalaz.me).
T20 World Cup Qualifier fixtures
Tuesday, October 29
Qualifier one, 2.10pm – Netherlands v UAE
Qualifier two, 7.30pm – Namibia v Oman
Wednesday, October 30
Qualifier three, 2.10pm – Scotland v loser of qualifier one
Qualifier four, 7.30pm – Hong Kong v loser of qualifier two
Thursday, October 31
Fifth-place playoff, 2.10pm – winner of qualifier three v winner of qualifier four
Friday, November 1
Semi-final one, 2.10pm – Ireland v winner of qualifier one
Semi-final two, 7.30pm – PNG v winner of qualifier two
Saturday, November 2
Third-place playoff, 2.10pm
Final, 7.30pm
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League last 16, first leg
Liverpool v Bayern Munich, midnight, Wednesday, BeIN Sports
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Match info
Karnataka Tuskers 110-3
J Charles 35, M Pretorius 1-19, Z Khan 0-16
Deccan Gladiators 111-5 in 8.3 overs
K Pollard 45*, S Zadran 2-18
The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed PDK
Power: 630bhp
Torque: 820Nm
Price: Dh683,200
On sale: now
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The biog
Family: wife, four children, 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren
Reads: Newspapers, historical, religious books and biographies
Education: High school in Thatta, a city now in Pakistan
Regrets: Not completing college in Karachi when universities were shut down following protests by freedom fighters for the British to quit India
Happiness: Work on creative ideas, you will also need ideals to make people happy
