The Medical Syndicate announced on Monday the death of Dr Mahmoud Al-Hindawi, Professor of Neurosurgery at the Faculty of Medicine at Al-Azhar University for Girls from the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Al-Hindawi, former director of Al-Zahra University Hospital, is the eighth doctor in Egypt to die from the virus. He was reported to have contracted the disease from a case in the course of his work.
Later on Monday, the Health Ministry reported 348 new coronavirus cases and 7 new deaths nationwide, raising the country’s total to 6,813 cases and 436 deaths. Up to 1,632 cases have recovered so far.
Earlier on Friday, Cairo University’s vice-dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dr Hisham El-Saket, also died from the coronavirus at Ain Shams University’s El-Obour quarantine hospital. Meanwhile, Dr Mamdouh Al-Sayed, former director of the ambulance service in Sohag, also died at Abo Teeg Central Hospital, due to complications from the coronavirus.
Dr Ehab Al-Taher, Secretary-General of the Medical Syndicate, has said that they do not have an accurate count of infections among doctors. He noted, however, that at least 90 doctors have been diagnosed with the coronavirus so far.
With infections among medical workers increasing, the Medical Syndicate called on the Ministry of Health to activate measures to protect medical staff working in quarantine hospitals from the infection.
The syndicate said that the measures have not been put in place at all hospitals, adding that medical staffs still face the risk of contagion.
The calls include isolating medical workers following the completion of their work and conducting PCR tests with 48 hour isolations to be enforced should the result return negative until a second test is done.
The Medical Syndicate called for infected medical workers to be provided with quarantine areas, whether in hotels, youth centres or university dorms. It also called for excluding doctors who suffer from chronic diseases, pregnant doctors, mothers who have children under 12, and doctors over 50 years of age.
The syndicate has filled a report with the Prosecutor General against the director of El-Agamy quarantine hospital. The move comes after the syndicate received complaints he “did not immediately conduct a coronavirus test for a doctor who was in contact with an infected case”.
“The doctor tested positive and was supposed to be quarantined and treated, but the director insisted on repeating the test, which violates the scientific protocols,” the syndicate said.
Earlier last week, Health Ministry spokesperson Khaled Megahed said that 88% of coronavirus infections among medical workers took place outside their workplaces. The remaining 12% occurred inside hospitals, after dealing with infected cases.
In previous statements, World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Egypt, John Jabbour, said that 13% of Egypt’s coronavirus infections are among healthcare worker. However, no new data on the rate of infections among medical workers in the country has been issued since then.
