Egypt’s Health Ministry on Sunday confirmed 674 new coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s total number of confirmed cases up to 161,817 ministry spokesperson Khaled Megahed announced.
The total number of COVID-19-related deaths has now reached 8,959 nationwide, after the ministry announced 57 deaths.
And 321 patients were discharged from quarantine at isolation hospitals, raising Egypt’s total number of fully-recovered cases to 126,497.
The country has officially entered the second wave of the pandemic, after cases rose steadily throughout November and December.
The peak reached so far during the second wave was on December 30, when the daily new cases reported at 1,411. Since then, the new daily cases started to plunge.
Government officials continue to urge the public to adhere to precautionary measures against the virus, and the Egyptian Cabinet has called on authorities to strictly enforce the country’s mask mandate, which applies to all public transportation and indoor public spaces.
Egyptian health and Population Minister Hala Zayed asserted earlier this month that Egypt has both the lowest coronavirus infection rates and death rates in relation to its population size.
Zayed refuted claims from the World Health Organization that Egypt has one of the highest death rates from coronavirus worldwide.
