Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly has ordered the cost of the coronavirus treatment at private hospitals be capped, read a statement by the Cabinet on Sunday. The recent period has seen inflated prices for treatment and isolation of coronavirus cases at private hospitals, the prime minister said. Many people have taken to social media over the past days to complain about the soaring cost of a day in isolation at some private medical facilities. The complaints come amid an escalating burden on public hospitals, Ahram Online reported. Madbouly's remarks were made during a meeting he held on Sunday with Health Minister Hala Zayed, Higher Education and Scientific Research Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfik, Information Minister Osama Heikal, and Presidential Adviser on Health Affairs Mohamed Awad Tag Eldin, among others. During the meeting, Madbouly entrusted the Egyptian Authority for Unified Procurement with providing hospitals with all necessary medical supplies and with providing medical staff with protective gear, in coordination with the health ministry. He instructed the officials of all relevant bodies, including supervisory authorities, to inspect hospitals on a daily basis to guarantee that all medical supplies are available, all medics are present, and a decent service is being provided to citizens. He gave directives to officials to provide coronavirus patients who are in home isolation with the necessary drugs. In an attempt to free up state-run isolation hospitals for critical cases, Egypt has started to ask coronavirus patients who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms to isolate at home. The health ministry said earlier today that it will dispatch medical convoys nationwide to distribute medication and preventive supplies to those in contact with confirmed coronavirus cases. The country has logged over 23,000 coronavirus cases, including more than 900 fatalities.
