This raises the death toll due to the outbreak of coronavirus in Egypt since February 2020 to 24,162.

Egypt reported 1,121 new infections on Friday, bringing the total number of cases since the outbreak to 488,763 according to the Ministry of Health and Population's daily update.

The daily report added that the total number of recoveries increased to 418,462 after 983 patients were discharged from hospitals nationwide in the past 24 hours.

The country witnessed a spike in reported cases over the past two months, recording the highest single day rise on 5 February at 2,298 cases, but cases have dropped sharply since mid-February.

The rate of COVID-related hospital admissions across Egypt has declined by 40.4 percent between 11 and 25 February compared to the previous two weeks, Acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar revealed on Tuesday.

Egypt plans to vaccinate 70 percent of its eligible population — 12-year-olds and above — by the second half of 2022.

More than 30 million citizens have been fully vaccinated to date, and almost 40 million citizens have received their first dose, according to the ministry figures.

Moreover, over a million citizens have also received their booster shot.