Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed has revealed that the ministry's blood plasma treatment trials for COVID-19 patients have proved successful for 30 cases. The trial transfuses plasma from recovered people into sick people to give their immune systems a boost to fight the virus. Zayed urged in a Saturday's statement the Egyptians who recovered from the virus to head to the nearest blood bank affiliated to the Ministry of Health to donate plasma. In the meantime, she said the ministry increased the number of general and central hospitals which offer testing and treatment for coronavirus infections to be 376 hospitals. She noted that 5,400 health units and 1,000 medical convoys have been launched across the country to distribute medicines and personal protective supplies. In the meantime, Zayed said that they cannot determine if Egypt is now witnessing the peak of coronavirus. She added in a TV interview on Saturday that the reasons behind the high increase of coronavirus infections during the last two days were "crowdedness ahead of Eid El-Fitr, and that people did not wear face masks." Zayed's comments came during her inspection tour that included Sahel Teaching Hospital and Mataria Teaching Hospital. She added that "more than 10,000 PCR tests were conducted to medical workers, and that 20 beds at each quarantine hospitals have been allocated for healthcare workers. She also said that 50% of coronavirus cases have arrived at hospitals in very critical cases. The minister affirmed that any person who suffers the coronaviru symptoms whether respiratory symptoms, diarrhea, or high temperature has to consider themselves a coronavirus infected case, noting that PCR test has not been the only way to detect the infection.
