Egypt reported 85 new coronavirus cases and 5 new deaths on Saturday, bringing the country’s total figures to 1,070 infections and 71 fatalities. However, 241 cases have recovered and discharged from hospitals. The new figures bring the country close to the pandemic’s third phase.
On Saturday, Health Minister Hala Zayed arrived in Italy to offer Egypt’s support to Rome in its fight against the pandemic.
As part of Zayed’s visit, two Egyptian military aircraft, under directions of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, also arrived in Italy with medical aid. This included protective suits and other medical equipment to help Italy in its efforts to contain the spread of the highly contagious virus.
Italy has become the pandemic’s European epicentre and the third most affected country. At the time of writing, 119,827 people had been infected with the virus across Italy, causing 14,681 deaths, while 19,758 have recovered.
As part of its measures to flatten the curve of infections, Italy has extended emergency measures, including severe travel restrictions and a ban on public gatherings, to the entire country.
On Friday, President Al-Sisi expressed Egypt’s support for Italy in the current crisis in a phone conversation with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Contes. He underscored Egypt’s solidarity with Italy, emphasising a “full readiness to provide all forms of support in such difficult circumstances, notably through sharing expertise and coordination between healthcare providers in the two countries,” a presidential statement read.
Egypt has 131,000 hospital beds nationwide, of which 96,000 are in public hospitals, and 35,000 private. There are, just 13.5 hospital beds per 10,000, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).
Egypt had completed just over 25,000 coronavirus tests by 1 April. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Egypt has the capacity to conduct 200,000 tests.
In efforts to slow the Covid-19 spread, Egypt has taken some measures, including isolating some villages with positive coronavirus results in Damietta and Menofia governorates. There have also be nationwide calls to stay at home, as well as a night curfew, and restricted shop hours.
