Egypt records 1,160 new COVID infections, 57 deaths

CAIRO – 20 May 2021: The Health Ministry said Tuesday night that 1,160 new coronavirus infections were detected, upping the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak in the country began to 249,238.

In a statement, Spokesman for the Health Ministry Khaled Megahed said 57 patients have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 14,498.

As many as 1,003 patients were discharged from isolation hospitals after receiving necessary medical care, taking the number of recovered cases to 183,696 so far, the spokesman said.

Regarding COVID vaccines, Minister Zayed said that Egypt is expected to receive 500 thousand doses of the Chinese "Synopharma" vaccine during the next few days, so that the total amount received of this vaccine will be 2,580,400 doses.

It is also expected that 1.9 million doses of the "AstraZeneca" vaccine will arrive through "Kovax" during the first week of next June, bringing the total availability of this vaccine to 5.253,600 doses, in addition to one million doses of the Chinese "Sinovac" vaccine expected to arrive during the last week of May or the first week of next June.

Advisor to Egyptian President for Health Affairs Awad Tag el-Din said, in, statements to TV show, that the government is considering to give a third dose of vaccination against the Coronavirus in anticipation of the changes that have occurred to it in some countries.

According the President’s Health adviser, China announced that those who received two doses of the Coronavirus vaccine must receive a third dose of the vaccine.

Raising awareness on COVID

Health Minister Hala Zayed announced on May 16, the launch of social communication teams in seven governorates to raise health awareness among the citizens.

The two-day campaign will tour Cairo, Alexandria, Fayyoum, Giza, Port Said, Damietta and Kafr el-Sheikh governorates, Health Ministry's Spokesman Khaled Megahed said.

The ministry's move comes to spread awareness among the citizens to follow the anti-coronavirus measures taken during Eid al-Fitr holiday to reduce the number of daily infections.

The teams will tour markets, cafes, train stations, places of worship and shops to provide practical explanation about the social distancing rules, wearing the facemasks in right way, and washing hands well, Megahed pointed out.

They will also brief the citizens on the importance of getting vaccinated and how to register on the vaccination website.