Egypt records 19 new COVID-19 deaths, 910 cases

CAIRO – 27 May 2020: 910 people have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) in Egypt over the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said in its daily briefing on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases to 19,666.

The ministry also reported 19 deaths due to the novel virus, upping the total number to 816.

Also, the test results of 5,798 people turned from positive to negative, the ministry said, including 5,205 people who totally recovered. It added that 178 patients left hospitals.

On May 14, Egypt released a coexistence plan to deal with the coronavirus pandemic over the coming period. The government highlights the importance of abiding by precautionary measures while preparing to gradually resume the normal life cycle.

The plan comes as a bid to reduce the number of infections and deaths, achieve a balance between maintaining a normal life cycle and abiding by the precautionary measures, to get rid of the negative psychological effects of the outbreak, and to avoid crowds resulting from services like transportation and shopping.

Cinemas, theaters, cafes, fitness halls, and sports clubs should remain closed during the period of coexisting with the coronavirus in light of the first phase of the ministry’s plan to cope with the virus set to start at the beginning of June.

The ministry also recommended keeping the ban on weddings and funerals and suspending universities, schools, kindergartens, and nurseries.

Coronavirus cases in Egypt are expected to reach around 20,000 by May 28th and to start recording lower number of cases starting June 7th, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said earlier in May.

In his speech during the inauguration of a developmental project in northern Egypt’s Alexandria attended by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Abdel Ghaffar said the number of new coronavirus cases can decrease to reach zero after July 17th, after reaching around 37,000 cases.

According to a hypothetical model the ministry adopts, which multiplies the counts by five, the actual number of cases in Egypt would be around 71,000 not 14,000, Abdel Ghaffar said, adding that no state can reach all the infected the cases especially that 80 percent of them show no symptoms.

The death rate due to coronavirus in Egypt is undoubtedly 4.8 percent, he added.