Egyptian journalist Mahmoud Riad died on Monday after contracting the highly contagious novel coronavirus (COVID-19), becoming the country's first journalist to die from the disease.
A statement by Egypt's Press Syndicate said that Riad, a journalist at Al-Khamis (Thursday) newspaper was transferred to El-Agouza quarantine hospital and died two weeks later.
The late journalist had posted on his official account on Facebook an update about his health six days before his death saying "[I have been feeling] continuous fatigue and high temperature for 14 days."
Mohamed Shabana, the syndicate's secretary-general, said Riad's health was improving but it abruptly deteriorated in his last hours.
"Three out of four of Riad's children are still isolated in the hospital after contracting the virus," he added.
Diaa Rashwan, chairman of the Press Syndicate, mourned Riad's death, calling upon syndicate members and the public to adopt the precautionary measures strictly to stay safe.
Egypt has so far reported 4,782 coronavirus infections and 337 fatalities.
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