File Photo: A woman wearing a protective health mask has her body temperature measured at on a touristic river boat in Egypt s southern city of Luxor taken on March 8, 2020. AFP
Egypt’s Health Ministry reported in its daily coronavirus statement that 43 new deaths related to COVID-19 complications were recorded officially in the past 24 hours nationwide, bringing the total number of deaths from the virus to 21,500.
The statement added that 670 patients have been discharged after recovering from the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to 314,452.
In media statements on Tuesday, Presidential Adviser for Health Affairs Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din announced that Egypt may locally manufacture COVID-19 treatment pills developed by giant pharmaceutical company Merck in a matter of a month or so.
Merck’s drug, ‘Molnupiravir’, is currently being used in the United Kingdom to treat patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms and has shown a 30 percent efficacy rate in reducing hospitalisations and deaths.
Furthermore, in mid-December, the Egyptian Authority for Unified Procurement, Medical Supply, and Technology Management (UPA) signed a procurement agreement with AstraZeneca for the recently authorised long-acting antibody combination ‘Evusheld’.
Short link: