Egypt reports 168 coronavirus cases, 13 deaths in 24 hours

CAIRO – 15 September 2020: The Egyptian Health Ministry said early on Tuesday that 168 new coronavirus cases and 13 deaths due to the novel virus were reported, raising the total number since the beginning of the outbreak in the country  to 101,177 and 5,661 respectively.

As many as 808 patients were discharged from isolation hospitals after receiving necessary medical care, taking the number of recovered cases to 84,969 so far, the spokesman said.

Since early last month, the daily number of new cases dropped below 200, except for the last week in August, registering a record drop in daily reported cases on August 22 with only 89 new infections, the lowest daily tally since April.

It is noted that the total number of infections in Egypt has surpassed 100,000.

However, Egyptian officials have repeatedly urged caution to avoid a second wave of the pandemic, particularly with the advent of autumn and the beginning of the academic year.

Egypt reported the first confirmed case of the novel virus on February 14, while the first fatality was recorded on March 8.

The Ministry of Health and Population announced Saturday the beginning of clinical trials of two Chinese COVID-19 vaccines on 15,000 volunteers. The tests will last for 60 days while the follow-up will continue for 12 months.

The volunteers who are all aged above 18 will be injected with two doses. Sources at the ministry told Al Watan newspaper that 135 vaccines worldwide are being clinically tested, and that only seven – including the two being tested in Egypt – entered the third stage.  

Thousands of the volunteers are set to participate in tests at VACSERA.