COVID-19 infection and hospital admission rates continue to drop in Egypt: Health ministry

Mohamed Hatem, Tuesday 12 Apr 2022

Egypt’s infection rates and hospital visits due to the coronavirus have significantly decreased nationwide, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population said Tuesday.

Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar
Acting Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar heading on Tuesday the ministry s weekly meeting to follow-up on the coronavirus situation in Egypt. (photo courtesy of the Egyptian Health Ministry)

 

These findings were revealed after Acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar reviewed the latest numbers during a meeting on Tuesday.

Egypt has successfully vaccinated over 53 percent of targeted groups, the spokesperson said, referring to those above the age of 12.

The ministry has previously said that for life in Egypt to return to the way it was pre-pandemic, 70 percent of this group must be vaccinated — a goal that the country seeks to achieve by mid-2022.

Since beginning its vaccination campaign in early 2021, Egypt has fully vaccinated 32.9 million people, while 44.3 million have received only the first dose of the vaccine and 2.1 million have received the booster shot.

Egypt’s current coronavirus vaccinations rate since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan has ranged between 100,000 to 150,000 doses per day, Abdel-Ghaffar said in a previous statement.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the acting health minister highlighted the importance of booster shots, urging everyone to take them, which are scheduled six months after the second dose. The possibility of infection increases after six to eight months, the minister said, noting that those above the age of 18 can safely take the booster shot depending on their health status.

This come at a time when infection rates and deaths tolls continue to decline, with the country reporting an average of 400 infections and seven deaths per day over the past week, according to the latest figures released by the ministry on Saturday.

The ministry also recorded an average of 532 cases recovering daily from the coronavirus.

The ongoing decline in coronavirus cases has led the country to reduce the number of isolation hospitals to only four hospitals and 16 partial isolation facilities nationwide, the acting health minister said in a statement on Wednesday.

He urged citizens who have not yet taken their first dose or booster shots to register on the health ministry’s website to receive the vaccine.

The ministry also continues to receive citizens’ inquiries regarding the coronavirus via the 105 and 15335 hotlines as well as WhatsApp on +201553105105.

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