Egypt reported on Wednesday 1,420 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total cases registered in the country since mid-February to 59,561, said Egyptian Health Ministry.
On the same day, 85 patients died from the novel coronavirus, bringing the death toll to 2,450, Egyptian Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement.
As many as 400 patients were completely cured and discharged from hospitals in the past 24 hours, increasing the total recoveries in the country to 15,935, according to the statement.
Megahed emphasized Egypt’s close cooperation with the World Health Organization regarding the pandemic, case detection and necessary medical care.
The capital Cairo and the nearby provinces of Giza and Qalioubiya reported the highest numbers of COVID-19 infections in Egypt, while the provinces of the Red Sea, Matrouh and South Sinai saw the lowest, he added.
Egypt announced its first confirmed COVID-19 case on Feb. 14 and the first death from the respiratory disease on March 8.
On Tuesday, the Egyptian cabinet decided to lift from June 27 a partial nighttime curfew that has been imposed in the country for three months, amid a “coexistence plan” to maintain anti-coronavirus precautionary measures while resuming economic activities.
The decision includes reopening restaurants, cafes, theatres and cinemas with 25 percent of their capacity, while public beaches and parks will remain closed.
Also, mosques and churches will be reopened for daily prayers but weekly mass prayers will remain suspended.
Egypt plans to resume air traffic in all Egyptian airports from July 1 as the country prepares for the return of foreign tourism, after more than three months of international flight suspension over COVID-19 concerns.
The most populous Arab country has already started gradual reopening of services and offices, and allowed operation of over 260 hotels for local tourists with 50-percent capacity after they were given official hygiene safety certificates.
Egypt and China have been cooperating closely in fighting the pandemic through exchanging medical aid and expertise.
In early February, Egypt provided aid to China to help with its fight against COVID-19 and China later returned favor by sending three batches of medical aid to the North African country.
Since mid-April, Chinese doctors and medical experts have held three video conferences with Egyptian counterparts to share their experience in the prevention and treatment of the novel coronavirus.
