Egypt has revised the operating hours for the Cairo underground metro in line with a slightly shortened curfew that now runs from 8 pm to 5 am, a statement by the transportation ministry read late on Sunday.

According to the statement, trains would run starting 5:15 am from the main stations on the three metro lines until 7:45 pm instead of the 6 am set during previous curfew hours.

Before the curfew, the regular operating hours of the Cairo metro were between 5:15 am to 1 am.

The decision came hours after Egypt slightly revised an imposed nighttime curfew to run until 5 am instead of the previous 6 am starting Sunday, Minister of State for Information Osama Heikal announced.

The newly announced curfew hours come one day after Egypt began imposing on Saturday a nationwide curfew that begins at 8 pm instead of a previous 5 pm for two weeks, marking a gradual reopening of a country heavily affected by the coronavirus repercussions.

Wearing face masks in public places has become mandatory since Saturday, with violators facing hefty fines.

Facemasks are mandatory for workers or visitors at markets, shops, banks, as well as governmental or private institutions until further notice, according to a decree by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly earlier this month.

The decree also states that commuters taking public or private transportation must also wear facemasks.

Those who do not wear a mask will be subject to a fine of up to EGP 4,000.

Egypt reported on Sunday the highest single-day rise in coronavirus cases and deaths with 1,536 new infections and 46 fatalities, the country's health ministry announced.

Sunday's tally brought the total number of confirmed cases to 24,985, and the death toll to 959.

This is the fourth consecutive day for the country to witness a single-day record in the number of detected infections.