This brings the total number of reported coronavirus cases in the country up to 425,911 since the outbreak of the pandemic in February 2020, according to the Ministry of Health and Population’s daily update.

The ministry also reported 31 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total deaths nationwide to 22,635. It added that 1,891 patients have been discharged from hospitals following recovery, bringing the total number of recoveries to 358,165.

On Sunday, the ministry reported 2,210 COVID cases as the country continues to battle a surge in infections.

On Friday, Egypt surpassed the 2,000 new coronavirus cases per day threshold for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic.

The spike in infections came as Egypt continues to push with efforts to expand its vaccination campaign. 

Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar, the health ministry's spokesperson, said on Monday that around 42 percent of the targeted groups have been vaccinated, adding that the ministry hopes to vaccinate 70 percent of the population by the second half of 2022. 

Egypt has administered a total of 37.2 million first vaccine doses and 26 million second doses since the start of the mass vaccination campaign in January of 2021, according to the health ministry’s daily statistics.

As many as 620,000 booster shots have been administered in recent weeks, as per the health ministry’s figures, bringing the total number of doses administered since the start of the mass vaccination campaign to 64 million. 

In late January, the first batch of AstraZeneca’s Evusheld — a monoclonal antibody drug that resists the coronavirus — comprising 15,000 doses arrived in Egypt, according to the company on Monday.

The company stated that further deliveries are expected in the coming weeks as part of a total supply of 50,000 doses in 2022.

Egypt is the first African country and the fourth globally to receive Evusheld, AstraZeneca said.