Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has stressed that hospitals require constant availability of all medical supplies as they continue their fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. He noted that the authority for the unified procurement of medical supplies and technology is, in coordination with the Ministry of Health, responsible for ensuring these supplies are provided. During a meeting with the government's coronavirus crisis management committee, Madbouly also instructed for the activation of each governorate's crisis committee, to ensure daily inspection visits to hospitals. These will check the availability of medical supplies whilst also maintaining that citizens are provided with a good service. He also instructed that private hospitals which have treated coronavirus patients set regulations to determine a specific cost for the treatment. In recent weeks, an exaggerated rise in the cost of treatment and isolation in many private hospitals has been reported. During the meeting, Minister of Health Hala Zayed reviewed a by-governorate report on infection rates across Egypt. She noted that the six governorates with the highest rate of coronavirus infections, reporting a total number of approximately 15,415 infections, include Cairo, Giza and Alexandria. Zayed said that there are now 5,013 care units nationwide responsible for distributing treatment and monitoring cases. She added that there are also 340 hospitals allocated to treating coronavirus cases, covering 3,539 intensive care beds, 2,218 ventilators, in addition to 35,152 beds in internal departments. She also said that 49 laboratories nationwide are prepared to conduct coronavirus tests, with a further eight laboratories to be added this coming week. Zayed emphasised that her ministry has 500,000 doses of coronavirus treatments that prescribe to Egypt's treatment protocol for the virus ready for critical cases in hospital. There are a further eight million doses for healthcare workers and others directly in contact with coronavirus patients, in addition to two million doses for infected cases. Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar announced that a total of 5,651 cases have received treatment at quarantine facilities at hospitals and university dorms. This figure includes 49 fatalities and 4,093 cases that have recovered. Abdel Ghaffar added that about 2,991 beds are currently providing health services for coronavirus cases, with several university dorms undergoing conversions to quarantine facilities. He indicated that a total of 26 university dormitory facilities hold a capacity of 69,070 beds for those patients requiring isolation facilities.
