Egypt’s coronavirus isolation hospitals are set to reopen this week in anticipation of a possible second wave of COVID-19, which could possibly hit the country harder than the first wave, manager of Al-Nagila hospital Mohamed Taleb told DMC TV on Sunday.

Minister of Health Hala Zayed has held a meeting with fever hospital managers and told them to be prepared for a surge in coronavirus cases, Taleb said.

Taleb said that Al-Nagila Hospital returned to operating as a coronavirus isolation facility three days ago, and that there is currently a moderate number of coronavirus patients receiving treatment at the hospital.

Al-Nagila Hospital, which is located in Marsa Matrouh governorate, was the first hospital to be assigned as a coronavirus quarantine facility in Egypt in mid-February when the first case was reported in the country.

Health Minister Hala Zayed held a meeting via video conference with the managers of fever hospitals across the country on Sunday to check on the work in the hospitals, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

During the meeting, Zayed praised the efforts of the medical teams in fighting coronavirus.

Last week, Dr Jihan Assal, the deputy chairman of the scientific committee formed to fight coronavirus, announced that isolation hospitals had been closed due to the decline in the number of cases over the past three weeks.

Egypt has recorded 95,492 cases of coronavirus including 52,678 fully recovered patients and 5,009 fatalities.