Egypt records 171 new coronavirus cases, raising total to 2,844

CAIRO – 17 April 2020: Egypt’s Ministry of Health announced Friday recording 171 new coronavirus cases, while nine people died from the virus.

This upped the total number of confirmed cases in Egypt to 2,844 and deaths to 205, Health Ministry Spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement.

He added that the number of coronavirus cases whose tests turned from positive to negative increased to 891, including 646 people who recovered from the virus.

All positive cases are placed under quarantine at isolation hospitals, the spokesman said.

He added that 50 of those infected with coronavirus, were discharged from hospitals after receiving the necessary medical care.

This takes the total number of recoveries so far to 646, he noted.

Earlier on Friday, Egypt started treating 50 patients of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) with the Japanese antiviral drug Avigan, announced Mohamed Tag El-Deen, the Advisor for Health Affairs to President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

“Today, we started testing it on 50 patients in a number of medical centers, to see whether it is effective or not," he was quoted as saying by Masrawy newspaper. Tag El-Deen’s comments came during an online symposium organized by the Arab Administrative Development Organization (ARADO).

He added that there is no drug for the COVID-19, but Avigan drug helps patients recover fast.

Last week, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said the ministry has managed to communicate with the Japanese manufacturer of the antiviral drug Avigan to treat patients with coronavirus (COVID-19).