Egypt will launch a mobile application on Wednesday to track new coronavirus cases and those in contact with patients, the health ministry announced, as the country continues to push efforts to stem the spread of the pandemic. The new application, which will be launched on Google Store and iOS on Wednesday, aims to lower congestion on the ministry's hotlines designated for reporting the virus cases. The launch comes few days after the health ministry said it has received 477,257 inquiries in March about the coronavirus pandemic through its 105 and 15335 hotlines, which have been set up to answer citizens' questions about the virus. Haytham Salah El-Din, Ministry of Health and Population of Egypt Minister's Advisor for IT Affairs, said the hotlines were receiving 40,000 inquiries daily, adding that the minister of health has ordered increasing the number of hotline operators to 290 and later to 400. Salah El-Din said the application would determine the isolation hospital in which the patient would be referred to if he tested positive. The application includes a system to track reports on infections, facilitates communication between doctors and citizens, includes awareness articles, info graphs and safe shopping instructions and answers to 50 FAQs. Egypt reported nine new deaths on Tuesday, its highest toll in a single day since the first case was detected in the country in mid-February, as well as 128 new cases, bringing the total to 1,450 cases and a death toll of 94 nationwide.
