Egypt reported 1,138 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, bringing total infections nationwide since the outbreak last year to 237,410. The health ministry detected 59 new fatalities, bringing the death toll to 13,904. 400 patients have been discharged from hospitals in the past 24 hours following recovery, bringing total recoveries to 176,763. Egypt has been witnessing a rise in coronavirus infections and deaths, with more than 1000 infected daily since late April. However, Health Ministry Spokesman Khaled Megahed said the situation in hospitals is stable. Last week, the cabinet announced a set of new measures to curb the spread of the virus during the next two weeks as the country is set to mark the Islamic holy feast of Eid Al-Fitr. The measures, in place for two weeks from 6 to 21 May, include the closure of shops, malls, coffee shops, restaurants, and movie theatres at 9pm. However, restaurants are allowed to make home deliveries past 9pm. All public gatherings and mass activities are banned, and public parks and beaches are closed for two weeks. Egypt, which is witnessing a third wave of the deadly virus, has not detected a new strain of the coronavirus, according to the presidential adviser for health affairs, Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din. Egypt also has adapted a rapid molecular test – known as ID NOW and only takes 15 minutes to detect infection – to be conducted on both Egyptians and foreign nationals coming from the countries experiencing COVID-19 variants.
