Factories to adopt approved specifications for mask production: PM

CAIRO – 14 May 2020: Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli on Thursday said specialized factories will adopt accredited standards for producing “sustainable masks”. This comes as the Egyptian state has prepared a “coexistence” plan, to restore normal life during the coronavirus crisis.

In a meeting with the ministers of health, higher education and military production, Madbouli followed up on the state’s efforts to curb the spread of the novel virus and ensure the provision of medical supplies inside the hospitals that receive coronavirus patients.

Concerning masks, Minister of Military Production Mohamed el Assar said the military factories are working on increasing their masks' output, which will likely reach 4.5 million masks per day by the end of May.

This comes while the Ministry of Health has released its “dynamic coexistence” with coronavirus, which is based on governing and managing the crisis, organizing the provision of medical services, preserving and redistributing human resources, highlighting mechanisms to keep medicine and medical equipment available, training medical staff and spreading awareness.

The Health Ministry on Wednesday said 338 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Egypt recently, bringing the total number of cases to 10,431, amid calls for imposing a total curfew during the coming weeks.

The ministry also reported 12 deaths due to the novel virus, bringing the total number to 556. World Health Organization’s representative in Egypt John Jabbour said in mid-April WHO is looking at the cause of the high coronavirus rate of deaths in the northeastern African country.

Also, the test results of 2,980 people turned from positive to negative, the ministry said, including 2,486 people who totally recovered. It added that 160 patients left hospitals.

Egypt has reported a remarkable drop in the daily coronavirus cases, according to the official figures provided by the ministry, compared to the earlier few days. On Friday and Saturday, the country recorded 495 and 488 coronavirus positive patients, its highest daily count. On May 3, the country reported 272 cases, its lowest this month.