Egypt reports first three cases of Omicron

 

CAIRO- 18 December 2021: Egypt reported the first three cases of Omicron variant for passengers coming to Egypt, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health on Friday.

 

Based on the results of the genome sequencing tests for passengers coming to Egypt at all outlets, three cases of Omicron cases were detected among 26 passengers infected with COVID-19, the statement said, adding that all cases were isolated in hospitals, besides taking all precautionary with their contacts.

 

On Thursday, Egypt’s Cabinet approved to give COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for those who were fully-vaccinated  more than six months ago.

 

Acting Minister of Health Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday that SMSs will be sent to those people to be notified about the time and place of receiving the third dose, according to a Cabinet statement.

 

The Acting Minister said that  23 million booster doses will be provided until June 30, 2022.

 

He also added that the crime of forging a COVID-19 vaccination certificate is punishable up by imprisonment.

 

On Thursday evening, the Health Ministry said 910 new coronavirus cases were detected in 24 hours in Egypt, upping the total number of infections to 373,509.

 

Health Ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar said 43 patients died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 21,277.

 

As many as 700 patients were discharged from hospitals after receiving medical care, taking the number of recoveries to 310,749, it added.

 

Earlier in December, Acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar revealed that Egypt has received about 98.4 million doses of coronavirus vaccines since the beginning of the pandemic in Egypt early this year.

 

He added that the ministry has already used 48 million doses in vaccination so far, with about 51 million doses remaining ready for use.