Egypt reports slight decrease in coronavirus death rate

CAIRO – 16 April 2020: The death rate for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Egypt decreased from 7.5% to 7.3%, data published by the Health Ministry revealed, as Egypt on Wednesday reported five deaths, the country’s lowest count in April so far.

The death toll since the novel virus emerged in Egypt now stands at 183, based on the latest data on Wednesday evening.

The infection rate reached 6.1%, while the rate of coronavirus test results turning out to be negative rose to 29.9%, the highest rate since the crisis started in Egypt in mid-February, according to the official data announced.

This comes few days after World Health Organization’s representative in Egypt John Jabbour said that all the coronavirus fatalities in Egypt had underlying health problems, adding that about 30% of them died before they could reach hospitals.

Jabbour also referred to Egypt’s high death rate, saying that WHO is looking into the reasons behind it.

The Egyptian Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 155 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, raising the total number of cases in the northeastern African country to 2,505 cases.

The ministry said the results of a total of 751 cases have turned to negative, including 553 who totally recovered since the crisis started.

Last week, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli extended a nationwide night-time curfew by two additional weeks, as the country is tailoring measures to contain the coronavirus situation in the country.

Among the decisions intensifying sterilization procedures for all state facilities and deducting salaries of the prime minister and state ministers by 20 percent for three months to support precarious employment.

“Our projections for this week were 120-150 cases daily. There will be increases in the number of infections in the coming two or three weeks…but the more important thing is that the rise is slight and gradual,” Madbouli noted.