88% of coronavirus-positive health staff infected outside hospitals: Min.

CAIRO – 12 April 2020: As Egypt has recorded many coronavirus (COVID-19) cases amid doctors and nurses recently, Minister of Health Hala Zayed on Saturday said only around 12% of the infected medical staff working in the ministry’s hospitals were infected inside hospitals.

Zayed ordered the formation of a central committee, she said, mainly to limit the spread of the novel virus among medical staff in all government and private hospitals.

The committee started its work, including checking hospitals to ensure that all procedures and requirements are met and applied.

Separately, Mohamed Salah al-Din, chief of the General Organization For Teaching Hospitals and Institutes denied rumors that a hospital in Cairo’s crowded district of Matariya has recorded any coronavirus cases.

He said the Matariya Teaching Hospital took precautionary measures to prevent any infection among its staff.

Three Egyptian doctors died from coronavirus and the 43 others were infected with the virus nationwide so far, stated the Egyptian Medical Syndicate on Saturday.

Two of the deceased doctors had contracted the virus after connecting infected people away from their workplaces, the syndicate added in the statement, noting that the number of infections among the medical staff members is likely to increase.

The Syndicate called upon the doctors to abide by the rules concerning the personal protective equipment (PPE) which is available in all hospitals, medical centers, the statement.

The Ministry of Health announced Saturday, that 145 new coronavirus cases were detected; all of them Egyptians, upping the total number of confirmed cases to 1939, Spokesman for the Health Ministry Khaled Megahed said in a statement.

Eleven patients have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 146, the spokesman said.