Egypt launches probe into death of doctor from COVID19

CAIRO - 25 May 2020: Egypt’s Ministry of Health launched an investigation into the death of a physician infected with the new coronavirus (COVID-19) on Monday after it has been accused of “inaction” in protecting medical staff during the pandemic.

Minister of Health Hala Zayed ordered an investigation into the death of doctor Walid Yahia Abdel-Halim, who died from the COVID-19, in al-Munira hospital downtown Cairo on Monday, the Health Ministry announced in a statement.

The Minister added that all legal measures will be taken if any default is found, the statement said.

As yet, the number of doctors who died from the COVID-19 reached 19 physicians, including doctor Adel-Halim, while the number of the infected doctors registered more than 350, announced the Egyptian Medical Syndicate in a statement on Monday, saying “the Health Ministry’s failure in providing the doctors the health protection recurred.”

The syndicate stated that the ministry is required to conduct early testing to detect any infected cases among the medical staff members and testing those who are close to the COVID-19 patients. The syndicate asked the ministry for providing a treatment place for doctors who are infected with the virus.

In addition to this the syndicate requested from the ministry to provide the personal protective equipment [PPE] and necessary training for the medical staff at the isolation hospitals.

Syndicate member Radwan Shabban told Youm7 on Monday that three doctors died from the virus in one day.

In another statement, the Minister of Health announced that since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 every isolation hospital has included a floor with a capacity of 20 beds for those who are infected with the virus among the members of the medical staff.

The Minister added medical tests should be conducted for medical staff members when they start their work at hospitals and after ending their working days, noting that more than 19,500 rapid diagnostic tests and more than 8,000 PCR were conducted for the doctors so far.

The minister affirmed that hospitals nationwide were provided with the necessary protection equipment.

Egypt recorded 702 new cases of the new coronavirus (COVID19) and 19 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 17,967 and 783 deaths, respectively, announced the Health Ministry said in its daily briefing on Monday.

Also, the test results of 5,481 people turned from positive to negative, including 4,900 people who totally recovered. It added that 179 patients left hospitals in the last 24 hours.