Egypt reports 163 new coronavirus cases, 18 deaths

BY

-

Wed, 16 Sep 2020 - 12:24 GMT

BY

Wed, 16 Sep 2020 - 12:24 GMT

Iranian family wear protective masks to prevent contracting a coronavirus, as they stand at Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran February 20, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Nazanin Tabatabaee via REUTERS

Iranian family wear protective masks to prevent contracting a coronavirus, as they stand at Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran February 20, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Nazanin Tabatabaee via REUTERS

CAIRO - 16 September 2020: The Health Ministry said Tuesday that 163 new coronavirus cases were detected, upping the total number of confirmed cases to 101,340.



In a statement, Spokesman for the Health Ministry Khaled Megahed said 18 patients have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 5,679.



As many as 776 patients were discharged from isolation hospitals after receiving necessary medical care, taking the number of recovered cases to 85,745 so far, the spokesman said.

 

Egypt had witnessed a slight increase in the daily tally of coronavirus cases in the past weeks, reversing a low of 89 on August 22.

 

The surge comes as the government repeatedly urged caution to avoid a second wave of the pandemic, particularly with the advent of autumn and the beginning of the new academic year.

 

The country decided on Monday to ease more lockdown measures as of next week, allowing funeral prayers, weddings in open places only, after a six-month-long closure of these services due to the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Since early last month, the daily number of new cases dropped below 200, except for the last week in August, registering a record drop in daily reported cases on August 22 with only 89 new infections, the lowest daily tally since April.

 

It is noted that the total number of infections in Egypt has surpassed 100,000.

 

The Ministry of Health and Population announced Saturday the beginning of clinical trials of two Chinese COVID-19 vaccines on 15,000 volunteers. The tests will last for 60 days while the follow-up will continue for 12 months.

 

The volunteers who are all aged above 18 will be injected with two doses. Sources at the ministry told Al Watan newspaper that 135 vaccines worldwide are being clinically tested, and that only seven – including the two being tested in Egypt – entered the third stage.  

 

Thousands of the volunteers are set to participate in tests at VACSERA.

Comments

0

Leave a Comment

Be Social