What support has the Ministry of Health provided to doctors?

CAIRO – 27 May 2020: After the controversy over the failure to provide medical care to medical staff in hospitals, Minister of Health Hala Zayed clarified in an official statement the ministry's support to the medical staff since the beginning of the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.

The ministry’s statement reviewed information on the medical care provided for doctors, including medical supplies and tests, as well as previous decisions taken by the ministry as per the presidential directives since the beginning of the crisis.

In the below lines, Egypt Today provides information on this support:

• The ministry allocated a floor of each isolation hospital with a capacity of 20 beds to treat the infected medical personnel.

• So far, the number of coronavirus infections among medical teams has reached 291 and 11 deaths.

• All those infected with coronavirus receive the necessary treatment in isolation hospitals.

• Medical tests are performed for all hospital crews before the start and after the end of working hours, and also during the 14-day holidays.

• 219,875 medical tests have been performed so far with rapid detector devices and over 3,000 tests with PCR devices.

• A medical examination is carried out immediately for those who show symptoms of the disease while performing their work.

• The ministry has also provided 247,000 N95 masks,73,000 masks with high efficiency and 5.5 million medical masks.

• Additionally, the ministry provided 33,000 medical gloves, 331,000 sterile gloves, and 4,700 protective glasses.

• The ministry has provided 147,000 sterile clothing sets and 228,000 medical suits.

• The statement stressed the availability of adequate stocks of preventive supplies in hospitals and the availability of a medical team for psychological support for doctors in isolation hospitals.

• During the statement, the minister thanked the medical staff for showing up for the sick in the face of the coronavirus.