The Ministry of Health reported on Saturday 1497 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, and 32 new fatalities. The latest figures raised the country’s total confirmed cases to 32612 and 1198 deaths. Up to 8538 cases have recovered.
Earlier in the day, Minister of Health Hala Zayed announced that the ministry has removed the antiviral Tamiflu from the medical protocol for treating the coronavirus. The medication was removed as it had not proven effective in treating COVID-19 patients. Hydroxychloroquine, on the other hand, does remain part of Egypt’s treatment protocol, although many countries have removed it from their treatment protocols.
The total number of COVID-19 fatalities among Egyptian doctors rose to 46 on Saturday, after the death of 10 doctors in less than a week.
Talking to Daily News Egypt, Egyptian Medical Syndicate (EMS) council member Dr Ibrahim El-Zayat said doctors who have died from the coronavirus include: Dr Nermeen Jalal, a Consultant of Obstetrics and Gynaecology; Dr Mohamed Antar, teacher of Pharmacology at Al-Azhar University Faculty of Medicine Damietta; Dr Hani Refaat, Professor of Nephrology at Ain Shams University; Consultant Urologist Dr Abdel-Azim Abu Al-Hassan; Dr Samir Othman and Dr Ayman Zaki, both consultants in Obstetrics and Gynaecology; and Dr Syed Rushdi, a teacher of neurology at Al-Azhar University.
Over 400 doctors have been infected with the virus so far, El-Zayat revealed, saying, “We are still counting the total number of infections, but it has exceeded 400.”
Meanwhile, Wael Sarhan, Head of the Egyptian Ambulance Organization Employees’ Syndicate, announced on Saturday that the number of infections among ambulance employees has risen to 100, with two fatalities. In a statement, Sarhan added that 36 family members of ambulance employees have also tested positive for the coronavirus.
