Egypt’s Minister of Health Hala Zayed warned Egyptians, on Sunday, against neglecting the state-recommended precautionary measures that have been put in place to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The minister’s comments have come following a particularly noticeable increase in social gatherings after the Eid Al-Adha holiday.
Zayed said that it is necessary for Egyptians to commit to the precautionary measures to avoid a second surge of infections. The measures include keeping social distancing, avoiding social gatherings, and wearing face masks correctly.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Health recorded 178 new cases, bringing the country’s total number of cases in Egypt since the beginning of the pandemic to 95,492. The daily number of fatalities from the virus has also continued to decrease with 17 new reported cases, bringing the total number of deaths to 5,009. The number of recoveries has increased as 52,678 cases have been discharged from quarantine facilities at hospitals.
Meanwhile, the Negelah isolation hospital in Matrouh governorate has resumed admissions of coronavirus sufferers, following its closure for over a month, as the number of infections has started to rise again.
In June, the Ministry of Health announced the hospital’s closure after the ministry allocated quarantine departments at other fever hospitals nationwide to treat coronavirus patients .
The Negelah isolation hospital was the first specially-designed medical facility for treating and isolating coronavirus patients.
Ministry of Health Spokesperson Khaled Mogahed noted that all Egyptian isolation hospitals are ready to receive new cases, whilst also providing cases in home isolation with the needed medication.
