Egypt health ministry organised 64,000 home visits to self-isolating COVID patients in January
Ahram Online, , Tuesday 2 Feb 2021
Minister of Health Hala Zayed said the ministry provided 604 pulse oximetre devices to patients quarantining at home last month


The Ministry of Health has organised 64,000 visits to coronavirus patients who are self-isolating at homes and provided medication to 17,000 cases during the month of January.

In a virtual cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Tuesday, Minister of HealthHala Zayed said the ministry also provided 604 pulse oximetre devices — which measure blood oxygen levels — to patients quarantining at home.

The ministry launched the home visitationinitiative early in January to follow up on coronavirus patients who self-isolated at home with mild symptoms.

The initiative includes a service provided to patients through 5,400 health units and medical centres nationwide to measure oxygen saturation in blood and temperatures.

During the cabinet meeting, Zayed also affirmed the availability of sufficient liquefied oxygen at hospitals nationwide, as well as a reserve stock of oxygen cylinders.

Egypt has started its vaccination campaign against coronavirus using the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine last week by inoculating hundreds of medical workers at quarantine hospitals.

In December, the country received the first batch of doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, consisting of 50,000 doses.

On 31 January, Egypt also received the 50,000 doses as first batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the British-Swedish company’s branch in India.



Zayed has announced that people over 60 years of age and people suffering from chronic diseases are expected to receive the vaccine starting mid-February.



On Monday, Egypt reported 541 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total infections nationwide since the outbreak of the pandemic to 166,492, according to a statement by the Egyptian health ministry.

The ministry also reported 44 new fatalities, bringing the death toll from the pandemic to 9,360.

The statement said that 471 patients have been discharged after recovering from the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to 130,107.

Last week, Egyptian officials said the country passed the second wave of the virus, which battered the country in December.

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