Egypt reports 206 new coronavirus cases, 19 deaths on Wednesday
Ahram Online, Wednesday 26 Aug 2020


Egypt’s health ministry recorded 206 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, bringing the total case tally nationwide to 97,825 cases since the detection of the first case in February.

The ministry bulletin also recorded 19 new deaths, bringing the total fatalities from the virus to 5,317.

A total of 996 patients have been discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries so far to 68,713.

Egypt has recently witnessed a slight increase in the daily tally of coronavirus cases since the weekend.

Saturday saw the lowest daily toll in four months with only 89 cases.

There were 103 cases on Sunday, 138 cases on Monday, and 141 new cases on Tuesday.

In a separate statement released on Wednesday, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly called on people to exercise caution to prevent a second wave of the pandemic, adding that Egypt will maintain the existing preventive measures against the disease, particularly with the advent of autumn.

"The noticeable increase in the number of infections recently prompts us to [exercise] caution, and to maintain the strict precautionary measures and penalties for violators to prevent a second wave of the coronavirus and avoid an increase in the curve of infections and deaths as has happened in some countries," the statement quoted Madbouly as saying during the cabinet's weekly meeting.

During the same meeting, Health Minister Hala Zayed demanded public and state institutions maintain strict precautions to prevent a second wave, which she said may force the state to reinstate tough measures to ensure people's commitment to the precautions.

"The occurrence of a second wave is associated with a false sense of safety among people that the epidemic is over," the minister added.

The prime minister said earlier this month that, starting 1 September, Egypt will require all travellers arriving to the country to present a negative PCR test result due to “increasing infections in some countries.”

“We are keen on ensuring the health of those arriving in the country and of Egyptian citizens; therefore, we agreed that any traveller arriving in the country should be tested,” he said.

Egypt began a gradual resumption of regular international flights on 1 July, having shut its airspace in March in the wake of the pandemic.

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