On Thursday 7 May, the Egyptian President’s Adviser on Health and Prevention Affairs Mohamed Awad Tag-Eddin said that Egyptian authorities had carried out one million COVID-19 tests since the start of the outbreak. The number raised eyebrows and questions across Egypt and the global health community, as it would mean Egypt had been among the few countries that have carried out more than one million tests. On Saturday 9 May, the State Information Service (SIS) released a statement clarifying the statements made by Tag-Eddin. According to this statement, 105,000 PCR tests had been conducted across Egypt. The other 895,000 tests referenced by Tag-Eddin “covers all medical examinations and lab tests, including a large number of rapid tests and other checkups necessary for clinical diagnosis, in addition to diagnostic radiology exams”, said the statement released by the SIS. A breakdown of the other tests and examinations has not been provided. What are the different tests? PCR tests are used to directly detect the presence of an antigen, as opposed to the presence of a body’s immune response or antibodies. In other words, a PCR test, which involves screening swathes of nasopharyngeal…
