Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has stressed that the necessity of constant availability of all medical supplies at hospitals as they continue their fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
He noted that the Egyptian Authority for Unified Procurement, Medical Supply, and Technology Management, in coordination with the Ministry of Health, is responsible for ensuring these supplies are provided.
During a meeting with the government’s coronavirus crisis management committee, Madbouly ordered launching daily inspection visits to hospitals nationwide to check on the availability of medical supplies whilst also ensuring that citizens are provided with a good service.
He also instructed that private hospitals, which have received coronavirus patients, have to set a ceiling to Covid-19 treatment charges, especially with the exaggerated rise in treatment costs at some private hospitals which has been reported in the recent weeks.
During the meeting, Minister of Health Hala Zayed reviewed a by-governorate report on infection rates across Egypt.
She noted that the six governorates with the highest rate of coronavirus infections, reporting a total number of approximately 15,415 infections, included Cairo, Giza, and Alexandria.
Zayed said that there are now 5,013 intensive care units nationwide responsible for providing treatment and monitoring cases. She added that there are also 340 hospitals allocated to treating coronavirus cases, providing 3,539 intensive care beds, 2,218 ventilators, and 35,152 beds in internal departments.
She also said that 49 laboratories nationwide are prepared to conduct coronavirus tests, with a further eight laboratories to be added the coming week.
Zayed emphasised that her ministry has 500,000 doses of coronavirus treatments as prescribed in Egypt’s treatment protocol for the virus ready for critical cases in hospital. There are a further 8m doses for healthcare workers and others directly in contact with coronavirus patients, in addition to 2m doses for infected cases.
Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar announced that a total of 5,651 cases have received treatment at quarantine facilities at hospitals and university dorms. Out of this figure, 49 cases died and 4,093 cases recovered.
Abdel Ghaffar added that about 2,991 beds are currently providing health services for coronavirus cases, with several university dorms undergoing conversions to quarantine facilities. He indicated that a total of 26 university dormitory facilities hold a capacity of 69,070 beds for those patients requiring isolation.
