More than 10K PCR tests carried out for Egyptian medical staff: min.

CAIRO – 31 May 2020: Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed stated Saturday that more than 10,000 PCR tests were carried out for medical staff.

The minister added that 20 beds at each quarantine hospital are allocated to medical staff members who get infected.

Zayed pointed out that PCR tests are not the only determinant of infection clarifying that symptoms like fever and diarrhea in addition to blood tests are crucial in COVID-19 diagnosis.

The minister stated on May 25 that infections and deaths among medical staff was 291 and 11, respectively.

Egypt recorded 1367 new coronavirus, COVID-19 cases, Saturday, raising the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak in Egypt to 23449.

Spokesman for the Health Ministry Khaled Megahed said in the daily briefing that 34 patients have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 913.

As many as 182 patients were discharged from isolation hospitals after receiving necessary medical care, taking the number of recovered cases to 5693 so far, the spokesman said.

The number of coronavirus patients who had now been retested for the virus and received negative results has reached 6456, he added.

Earlier, on Thursday the Egyptian government, chaired by Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli, shortened the hours of the night-time curfew to start from 8:00 pm to 6:00 am for 15 days, in terms of the government’s new decision to cope with and mitigate the effects of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In a cabinet meeting attended by Minister of Health Hala Zayed and Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, and other ministers, Madbouli announced that the new decision of the COVID-19 curfew will come into effect on Saturday.

All restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, casinos, night clubs, bars, cinemas, theaters and entertainment venues, will remain closed.