Egypt reports 401 new coronavirus cases as numbers continue to decline

CAIRO – 31 July 2020: Egypt’s Ministry of Health on Thursday reported 401 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, the lowest since mid-June, down from 1,677 cases on June 13. This brings the total number of cases to 93,757.

The ministry said 46 people died from the virus during the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to 4,774.

Also, the ministry recorded 1,211 recoveries, raising the total number to 38,236.

Egypt is “strongly taking part” in the efforts to develop a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine that will shortly be available, said head of the Health Ministry’s scientific committee to fight coronavirus.

This comes a month after the Egyptian Drug Authority earlier announced signing a deal with AstraZeneca to supply the country with the Oxford University's vaccine.

In a phone interview with Akher Al-Nahar program on Al Nahar TV, Hossam Hosni urged citizens to stick to the coronavirus preventive measures during Muslim’s Eid Al-Adha holiday, including wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and washing hands continuously, in order to avoid a new surge in coronavirus cases.

In Islam, there are two major Eids, namely Eid al-Fitr (Festival of Breaking the Fast) celebrating the end of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice) which coincides with the Hajj and commemorates Prophet Abraham’s sacrifice of a sheep in place of his son, Ismael.