Coronavirus Country Profile: Egypt’s Latest News, Numbers and Updates
We’ve all reached a point where we realized that this virus is not going anywhere any time soon, and it has become clear that we’re now in the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Egypt has thankfully fared quite well so far, implementing nationwide safety measures and regulations, and doing its best to keep the country running. Let’s take a look at how Egypt has been coping with the coronavirus.
On Sunday, Japan’s handball team arrived in Cairo to participate in the 27th Men’s Handball World Championship in Egypt. The Japanese team wore face masks and were received not only by officials wearing face masks, but also medics who as always measure temperatures after the team members disembark from their plane.
Via Ahram Online ![]()
Via Ahram Online
The Cairo International airport will still welcome 30 other teams in the upcoming days. But don’t panic, as according to the officials, the airport allocated a whole arrival hall exclusively for the teams with restrictive protective measures to curb any outbreak or spread of the coronavirus.
The 27th Handball World Championship will be held in Cairo from 13 to 31 January in Cairo, Giza, and Alexandria, amidst the impending peak of the second wave of the coronavirus. Nevertheless, seating arrangements will be limited to minimize exposure to players and audiences.
We’ll keep our fingers crossed as the coming weeks might witness the beginning of mass coronavirus vaccination in the country, with priority given to medical professionals and those who are chronically ill.
Egypt is considered the third Arab country to approve the urgent use of the Chinese vaccine after the UAE and Bahrain, as well as the fourth country worldwide after the Gulf and Singapore. Nevertheless, the Egyptian government authorized both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance to consider securing millions of doses of both the Pfizer BioNtech and Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines in the upcoming weeks.
Now let’s talk numbers; as of today, Egypt has officially registered 140,878 cases of coronavirus, including 113,480 fully recovered patients and 7,741 deaths. Moreover, according to the Egyptian Medical Syndicate, the medical sector alone witnessed no less than 10,000 cases of coronavirus, including 269 doctors who died due to COVID-19 to this day. The Ministry of Health and Higher Education, as well as other health officials, have admitted that the numbers of cases of coronavirus are more than what is officially registered or announced, as most cases prefer to receive home treatments.
Since February, the highest corona rates are in Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, and Qalioubeya. Since we’re experiencing the second wave now and the country as a whole won’t be able to survive another lockdown, the Government drew a new initiative and approach such as imposing a 50EGP fine on people not wearing face masks publicly, especially in metro stations and buses.
According to Awad Tag El-Din, the presidential adviser for health, the spread of the coronavirus among children is worse compared to the first wave so the decision to close schools was announced. Despite there being no lockdown, many public and private institutions, including banks and ministries returned to the old rotation system to limit the number of employees. Egyptian churches have also reimposed precautionary measures, canceling Sunday schools, mass, and other events. Mosques and churches not abiding by its two main rules, wearing masks and imposing social distancing, will be closed.
Lastly, Egypt hasn’t recorded the existence of the new COVID-19 strain and did not stop any flights going to and from any of the countries that have reported it. The pandemic isn’t over yet!
