Planning Minister Hala Al-Saeed has agreed to increase allocations for the supply of advanced medical equipment by EGP 200 million pounds for the 2019/2020 fiscal year.

In a statement on Thursday, the minister stressed the importance of meeting the needs of the first stage of the advanced medical equipment project, within the framework of an overall plan to curb the spread of coronavirus.

She further noted that the medical devices required for the first stage to deal with the coronavirus include ventilators, beds, automated external defibrillators, endoscopes and echocardiograms or cardiac ultrasound machines.

Egypt’s government has suspended schools and universities for two weeks and has mandated cafes and restaurants close at 7pm each night to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has allocated EGP 100 billion to a "comprehensive plan" to tackle the outbreak.