UAE Minister of Health and Prevention Abdul Rahman bin Mohammad bin Nasser Al Owais stressed on Tuesday that the country has an adequate stock of medicines and medical supplies to combat the coronavirus. While briefing the Federal National Council (FNC) on the new coronavirus, the Minister noted that the UAE was among the first countries that stocked up on sufficient quantities of medical logistics required for state-of-the-art check-ups to detect the virus, reported the UAE news agency (WAM). Eight coronavirus cases were detected in the UAE. One patient has recovered while all but one were in stable condition. Al Owais also briefed the council about the enhanced preparedness of health institutions in both the public and private sectors such as allocation of isolation wards, readying laboratories for virus testing, providing protective gear to health care providers as well as evacuation plans for UAE citizens from foreign countries should the need arise. Besides this, the government has also activated the National Operations Center and coordinated with the WHO and Chinese authorities to assess the risks. The UAE government has been lauded by the WHO and Arab Regional Center for its prompt handling of the detected cases and the transparency with which it dealt with the situation. Its allocation of a communication center in the Mandarin language for inquiries and for providing information on suspected cases, came in for special praise, in particular, the minister noted. The Minister concluded that the UAE remained in constant touch with the WHO to keep itself posted of the latest developments and will take part in a global meeting to discuss the latest developments with regard to the coronavirus infection.