Egypt Reports 709 New Coronavirus Cases; 40 Deaths

On Sunday, Egypt reported 709 new coronavirus cases, bringing total infections since last year to 204, 965

In its daily briefing, the health ministry also reported 40 deaths to bring the death toll since the outbreak to 12,163.

It added that 333 patients have been discharged from hospitals following recovery, bringing recoveries to 156, 219.

Egypt began vaccinating priority groups earlier in March under a wider rollout of the vaccination program after it concluded the vaccination of the country’s medical staff in the past few weeks.

It has now opened registration for all citizens who are 18 and older.

Up to 20,000 Egyptians register on a daily basis on the government’s website to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to health minister Hala Zayed last Wednesday.

Around 500,000 Egyptians are expected to have registered for vaccination by the end of the month, according to the minister.

The expansion comes as it pushes with efforts to secure vaccines for the over populous nation as it expands its immunization program.

It currently administers the Chinese Sinopharm and the British-Swedish Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, both of which were granted emergency use authorization by authorities earlier this year.