The number of COVID-19 cases in Egypt continues to rise, with the Ministry of Health and Population’s official tally reaching 50,437 total cases of the highly transmissible virus on Thursday, 18 June. Meanwhile Minister of Information Osama Heikal has self-quarantined. In its daily statement, the Ministry of Health announced 1,218 new COVID-19 infections and 88 related deaths, taking the total officially recorded death toll to 1,938. The total number of full recoveries has reached 15,528. Despite the increase in the number of cases, including a new daily record being set, Egypt has taken a number of steps aimed at relaxing COVID-19 restrictions. On Thursday 11 June, the Egyptian government announced that the nation-wide curfew would be shortened from 8PM-6AM to 8PM-4AM. Moreover, shops and commercial centres will be able to remain open for an additional hour, until 6PM each day. Meanwhile, on Sunday 14 June, Egypt’s Minister of Civil Aviation announced that flights between Egypt and countries that will allow travel to and from it will resume on July 1 from all Egyptian airports. On the same day, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities released a video ad enticing tourists…
Information Minister Under Self-Quarantine as COVID-19 Cases in Egypt Reach 50,000
June 18, 2020
