Egypt’s Health Ministry on Tuesday confirmed 648 new coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s total number of con cases up to 196,709 ministry spokesperson Khaled Megahed announced.
The total number of COVID-19-related deaths is now 11,680 nationwide, after the ministry announced 43 deaths.
And 500 patients were discharged from quarantine at isolation hospitals, raising Egypt’s total number of fully-recovered cases to 150,924.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned on Sunday against an imminent third wave of coronavirus in Egypt, stressing the need to adhere to precautionary measures.
Officials have speculated that cases will reach another peak around the holy month of Ramadan, which is estimated to begin on April 13.
Egypt launched its vaccination campaign on January 24. The Health Ministry is currently working to vaccinate medical staff, people over the age of 65, and those with chronic illnesses. The ministry has opened registration for the jab online.
The vaccine will cost no more than LE200 per person, Health Minister Hala Zayed announced, with low-income folks eligible to get their doses for free.
Egypt is currently using China’s Sinopharm vaccine for its campaign will soon receive a shipment of six million doses of the UK’s AstraOxford vaccine.
The ministry also plans to employ Russia’s Sputnik-V vaccine, once it makes its way to Cairo.
AstraOxford and Sputnik-V received emergency approval from the Egyptian Drug Authority on February 24.
So far, 100 million doses of the vaccine have been secured by the ministry, which is enough to vaccinate roughly half of Egypt’s population.
