Egypt puts strategy to curb rise in COVID-19 cases

CAIRO – 3 May 2020: Sources affiliated with the Egyptian Ministry of Health revealed Saturday the scenario set by the ministry to face the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as the number of cases exceeded 6 thousand cases.

The ministry is planning to include and prepare other apparatuses such as social clubs, hotels, and Universities’ dormitories to become quarantine hospitals ready to receive new cases that have contracted the infectious virus.

The step replaced equipping the existed quarantine hospitals, 17 hospitals, and will include other chest and fever hospitals all over Egypt to receive, sort, and diagnose any new cases.

The sources said that the Ministry launched the new strategy on Thursday in response to the new rise in the number of cases contracted the virus, adding that the patients showing mild symptoms will be immediately transferred to the new quarantine hospitals- previously used as social clubs and dormitories- to receive a full medical treatment.

The sources pointed out that medical teams will deal with the cases with mild symptoms as per the protocol set by the Ministry’s scientific committee, bearing in mind that cases with mild symptoms are not in a desperate need to be sent to the existing quarantine hospitals.

Only 9 from 1400 new cases housed by hotels and dormitories had to be sent to the quarantine hospitals, according to the sources, adding that the new strategy aims to keep the capacity of the hospitals for the cases with the severest symptoms.

The new strategy will also raise the efficiency of 34 hospitals in cooperation with other official parts in order to receive any expected rise in the COVID-19 cases, providing them with a full medical service that includes testing, quarantine, treatment, and the follow-up.

The hospitals will be equipped through a time course that will not exceed two weeks, also cases who do not show COVID-19 symptoms will be instructed to apply a self-house quarantine, said sources from the Ministry of Health.

Egypt recorded, Saturday 298 new coronavirus cases and 9 deaths, which raises the total infected patients of COVID-19 to 6193 and the total deaths to 415 according to Health Minster’s daily briefing.