COVID-19: Egypt records 47 new cases, one death in 24 hours

CAIRO - 30 March 2020: Egypt confirmed 47 new cases of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and one more death over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases infected with the virus to 656, according to a statement from the Cabinet on Monday evening.

As per the daily briefing from the Egyptian Ministry of Health, the death toll rose to 41 cases after recording one more death, while the number of those who recovered and have been tested negative for the virus rose to 182 people, including 132 cases who were discharged from the isolation hospitals so far.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli on Monday, Health Minister Hala Zayed reviewed the number of patients geographically across the country.

The Prime Minister has directed to increase the numbers of laboratories needed for PCR tests in the state’s hospitals. In response to the Prime minister’s order, Zayed clarified that there are 26 laboratories in all governorates and this number would be increased in the coming two days.

Meanwhile, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi directed the government to provide basic food commodities and increase the strategic food reserves to meet people’s demands across the country amid the strict measures taken by the government to curb the virus outbreak.

Since mid-March, the Egyptian government has taken gradual steps in dealing with the coronavirus spread, starting with suspending schools and universities. It also suspended the international flights to mid-April.

Furthermore, a partial two-week curfew was imposed on March 24, 2020, while all restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, casinos, night clubs, bars, shopping centers (malls), and other local shops shut down completely until April 14, 2020. In addition to this, the Ministry of Awqaf [Endowment] extended the closure of the mosques and the places of worship until further nationwide.

As yet, the global cases infected with the virus reached 760,383 people and 36,863 deaths were reported, while the recovered cases rose to 160,140. On March 10, 2020, the virus was announced a global pandemic by the World Health Organization.