Cairo Governor Khaled Abdel-Aal said 30 hospitals in the capital will be prepared to treat coronavirus patients following coordination with the health ministry and Cairo's health directorate.

The hospitals include Abbasiya Fevers Hospital, Abbasiya Chest Hospital, Ain Shams Hospital, Shorouk Hospital, New Cairo Hospital, Moqattam Hospital, the Coptic Hospital, Sahel Hospital, Ahmed Maher and Gomhoreya hospitals.

The decision comes days after Egypt said general hospitals in the country will provide coronavirus testing in a move signalling an expansion of testing for the virus in the populous country amid calls for further testing.

Some 320 hospitals will be receiving patients suffering from the virus, said health minister Hala Zayed last week.

The hospitals will conduct clinical examinations and run blood tests and chest x-rays, and if the test results turn out negative, the patient will be discharged with medications for the symptoms.

If the tests come back positive, a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test will be conducted, and the case will be evaluated to determine if it is mild, moderate or severe.

Those with mild symptoms will be asked to self-isolate at home, a measure applied since 14 May, while moderate cases will be sent to youth hostels or university dorms.

Severe cases, which are subdivided into high, extreme and critical, will be sent to a quarantine hospital.

Egypt is attempting to fill gaps in its health sector as the number of infections from the pandemic continues to rise daily, risking hospitals’ capacities.

There are no regular updates on the number of coronavirus tests conducted; however, a presidential adviser said earlier this month that the country conducted over 105,000 PCR tests.

Egypt said it is preparing several main public hospitals in Cairo to become coronavirus treatment facilities besides offering other therapeutic services.