The situation is under control, however, people's adherence to preventive measures against the virus is crucial and they should receive their shots as long as the pandemic exists globally, he added.

A total of 95 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered to people in Egypt, while 40 million people have received two vaccine shots, Tag El-Din noted, urging the public to receive their booster shots.

It is important to maintain the precautionary measures against the virus particularly because Egypt receives 600,000 tourists from all over the world on a weekly basis, he pointed out.

Earlier this week, Minister of Health Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said Egypt has reported a 50 percent drop in coronavirus infections and a 26 percent decrease in related deaths over the past two weeks. 

Occupancy rates at isolation hospitals affiliated to the health ministry and the use of ventilators have also decreased, the minister added.

The country has been witnessing a drop in coronavirus cases over the past month after a surge in infections, especially during the vacation of Eid Al-Adha, from 9 to 16 July.

In early July, the Ministry of Health reported an increase of 6.9 percent in coronavirus infections following a long period of a major decline in infection tolls nationwide.

Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar, spokesperson of the health ministry, attributed the rise in infections to the emergence of some sub-variants of the Omicron strain of the virus, especially the BA.5 variant, which he said are “more transmissible, but do not cause severe infections.”

He also shed light on the citizens’ laxity in adhering to the precautions, as well as the waning of COVID-19 vaccine and infection-induced immunity after the passage of the six-month period following vaccination or infection.

The country has recently eased many of the coronavirus-related restrictions it had imposed since March 2020. This included allowing mosques and shrines nationwide to revert to normal operation hours after two years of limited service, as well as allowing weddings and celebrations at indoor hotel halls as long as they followed the precautionary measures.

In mid-June, Egypt announced the lifting of all COVID-related entry restrictions for all travellers.