In a press conference held in Cairo, Minister of Health Hala Zayed said that the Egyptian capital has had the most cases of coronavirus in the country. A graph shared by the ministry showed that Cairo tops Egypt's governorates in the number of infections with 7,111 cases, followed by Giza with 2,629 cases, Qalioubiya at 1,787, Menoufiya at with 1,532, Fayoum at 1,277, Alexandria at 1,078, and Beheira at 988. The minister also revealed that the total number of coronavirus cases reached 23,499 on 30 May, including 8,000 cases that are being treated in youth hostels. She also added that the ministry mobilised 1,000 mobile medical caravans to distribute 8 million doses of medication to infected patients currently in home-isolation. Zayed said that another 57 laboratories will be opened by the end of the week to provide PCR analyses, in addition to 17 labs operating under the Ministry of Higher Education. During the press conference, Minister Zayed said that the Ministry of Health has gone from having 18 hospitals for treating and screening COVID-19 to 376 hospitals with a capacity of 35,000 beds. Minister Zayed also revealed that Hydroxychloroquine is still being used as a treatment in Egypt. “It has shown effective and positive results in mild coronavirus cases,” she said. Last week, the World Health Organisation announced that it had halted the use of Hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus temporarily over health concerns that were reported in several countries. The minister also renewed her call for fully-recovered coronavirus patients to donate blood to help patients in critical condition. She also asked citizens to download the ‘Health Egypt' app to follow the latest updates concerning the virus on their smart phones, adding that 600,000 citizens have already downloaded it.
