International Nurses Day on Wednesday focuses on the professionals at the sharp end of the global coronavirus pandemic, acknowledges the survivors of Covid-19, and remembers those who lost their lives.
For most nurses, it has not been an easy 12 months.
They risked their lives on the front line of health care every working day during the pandemic, caring not only for strangers struck down by the virus, but for their own families.
I would cry worrying if I would unknowingly transfer the infection to my loving boy
May 12 marks the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the Italian-born English social reformer who established the great pillars of care which became the norm for modern nursing.
According to the International Council of Nurses, more than 1.6 million healthcare workers in 34 countries were infected by the coronavirus in 2020.
One was Resmi Nair, a 35-year-old registered nurse at Bareen International Hospital in MBZ City, Abu Dhabi.
Ms Nair, from India, caught the virus on January 26, and was forced to stay apart from her family, including her two-year-old daughter. They ended up contracting the virus.
“I had severe body ache, headaches and fever,” Ms Nair said.
“It was a very stressful situation for me, as we were all uncertain about what would happen next.
"I was also overly concerned about post-Covid-19 syndrome.
“I was having trouble sleeping, followed by severe mood swings, difficulty in concentrating, loss of smell and taste, severe body pain and stomach problems.
“I felt very miserable, both physically and mentally.”
Ms Nair refused to quit, and after recovering she embarked on a journey of revitalisation, with more exercise and a healthy diet.
“I trained myself to develop a positive mindset and was able to recover within 26 days,” she said.
“Surviving this road full of hurdles would not have been possible if I did not have the support of my work and family.
"I returned to professional life stronger than before, mentally and physically, and was ready to do my duty.
“I hope that one day soon, my kids look back and feel proud of their mother as a nurse on the front line.”
Loss of a new life
Sruthy, a nurse at NMC Royal Hospital at Dubai Investments Park, was not so lucky.
Although she recovered from the virus, Sruthy was pregnant and suffered a miscarriage.
She described what felt like never-ending days dressed in full personal protective equipment, as the hospital faced a growing toll of Covid casualties.
“The patient numbers kept mounting,” Sruthy said.
“The perspiration and humidity accumulating in the mask got heavier, making it harder to draw breath, warranting me to be speaking louder to be heard.
“I was pregnant with my first child and was well into the second trimester.
“There were overwhelming concerns from my family on my own and my child’s safety.
"I walked daily into the unit to take care of at least half a dozen patients assigned to me," she said.
“The patients were young adults to grand old men and women, all having their own unique profiles and variable requirements, ranging from just the oxygen to ventilators and other life support equipment.”
Sruthy co-ordinated video calls between patients and their families, so they felt in touch during their treatment and that helped them to deal with their situations.
She would hurry between wards, managing critical care plans of each of the patients under her care.
As the days passed and the pandemic worsened, exhaustion set in. Shifts lengthened and the challenges piled up.
“Being first-time pregnant, a lack of rest and care for my nutrition was weighing on my mind,” Sruthy said.
“Going home every day to my loved ones was comforting, yet it brought the dangers of spreading the infection.
“Finally, the inevitable happened. I came out Covid-positive in routine testing and within 24 hours I had bleeding and, unfortunately, I had a miscarriage. I was devastated.
“I tried to gain confidence and comfort, not to look back but to think of the contributions to the patients I cared for," she said.
"The sense of satisfaction in doing my best possible – as it was very rewarding to see my patients heal and recover – gave me the sense and purpose to continue and take it each day as it came."
Like all health workers, nurses are continuously providing high-quality care, often working without a break.
Sometimes nurses are the only health workers people see in a crisis, yet the profession is facing a global shortage.
According to the World Health Organisation, nurses account for more than half of all the world's health workers, yet 5.9 million more are needed, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
Children give mother hope
Harsha Pushpan, a registered Nurse at Bareen International Hospital, MBZ City, Abu Dhabi, was eight months pregnant when she discovered she had the coronavirus.
I had never felt so emotionally broken before, but thinking about my daughter's face kept me going
“I was really struggling for oxygen," she said.
“I could not walk or eat and did not see my loved ones for a long time.
“I was worried about my unborn baby and two-year-old daughter.
“I had never felt so emotionally broken before, but thinking about my daughter’s face kept me going. It gave me the courage to live.”
Ms Pushpan waited a month before she tested clear of the virus, but her condition took a further two months to stabilise.
She has since given birth to a healthy boy.
Nurse haunted by loneliness of the dying
Anju Balachandran, 31, led a team of nurses in the coronavirus ward at NMC Royal Hospital Sharjah.
Like others, she was also expecting a baby at the start of the outbreak and give birth in May last year.
Ms Balachandran continued to work on the ward throughout her pregnancy, giving emergency care to those most in need.
“We were ready to handle anything that came our way, but we barely knew how to deal with the situation,” she said.
“It was the fear of the unknown and the damage it could cause that was most worrying.
“I had a newborn baby and as much as it was meant to be a precious experience, I was on my guard each time I returned home after hospital.
“I wondered if it was safe to cuddle, safe to kiss my child, and I would cry worrying if I would unknowingly transfer the infection to my loving boy.”
Read More
Coronavirus: frontline nurse returns to work after recovering from virus
Pandemic could affect mental health of frontline staff and patients for years, Abu Dhabi study warns
Magnificent seven: the brave frontline workers who gave their lives for Covid-19 patients
The experienced nurse described the esprit de corps on her ward as colleagues pulled together to fight the infection.
She also witnessed the desperation and loneliness of those facing the virus.
“The disease isolates you,” she said.
“There was a fear of staying away from the family with no one to talk to. The biggest responsibility was to sound positive in the worst of situations.
“The feedback from our recovered patients makes this entire experience worthwhile, but we carry the memories of the ones we lost and that will stay with me forever.
“The loneliness of the patients near the brink of death haunts me even today.”
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The years Ramadan fell in May
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Brief scores:
Day 2
England: 277 & 19-0
West Indies: 154
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20DarDoc%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Samer%20Masri%2C%20Keswin%20Suresh%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20HealthTech%3Cbr%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%24800%2C000%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Flat6Labs%2C%20angel%20investors%20%2B%20Incubated%20by%20Hub71%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi's%20Department%20of%20Health%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%2010%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The%20Boy%20and%20the%20Heron
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EHayao%20Miyazaki%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%C2%A0Soma%20Santoki%2C%20Masaki%20Suda%2C%20Ko%20Shibasaki%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
The five pillars of Islam
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Crazy Rich Asians
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan
Four stars
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
88 Video's most popular rentals
Avengers 3: Infinity War: an American superhero film released in 2018 and based on the Marvel Comics story.
Sholay: a 1975 Indian action-adventure film. It follows the adventures of two criminals hired by police to catch a vagabond. The film was panned on release but is now considered a classic.
Lucifer: is a 2019 Malayalam-language action film. It dives into the gritty world of Kerala’s politics and has become one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.
The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
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The five pillars of Islam
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
The%20Roundup
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The five pillars of Islam
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
