Egypt confirmed on Thursday 131 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total cases in the country to 95,006, said the Egyptian Health Ministry.
It is the fifth consecutive day for the daily COVID-19 infections in Egypt to fall below 200. The daily count started to exceed 200 on April 23 until it hit a record 1,774 cases on June 19.
Meanwhile, 21 patients died from the novel coronavirus on Thursday, raising the death toll in the country to 4,951, the ministry’s spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement.
Egypt also witnessed the highest single-day recoveries from the viral disease on Thursday, with 1,716 patients being cured and discharged from hospitals, according to the statement.
Earlier on Thursday, the Egyptian cabinet decided to ban anyone from entering Egypt without a recent PCR test that proves they are free from COVID-19, except for tourists coming via direct flights to the airports of Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, Taba and Marsa Alam.
Egypt announced its first confirmed COVID-19 case on Feb. 14 and the first death from the highly infectious virus on March 8.
From the first week of July, the daily coronavirus infections and fatalities in Egypt started to gradually decline along with an increase in daily recoveries.
Egypt resumed international flights in early July, after it lifted a partial nighttime curfew imposed since late March, and reopened restaurants, cafes, theaters and cinemas, as well as hotels, museums and archeological sites, all with limited capacity.
Easing restrictions is part of a “coexistence plan” adopted by the government over the past weeks to maintain anti-coronavirus precautionary measures while resuming economic activities.
Egypt and China have been working together on 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 sent three batches of medical aid to the North African country, the latest of which was in mid-May.
