Daily COVID-19 roundup: July 8

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Here are the latest figures on COVID-19 as of Tuesday, July 7:

Students attending history exams find themselves testing for coronavirus at hospitals after showing symptoms

Many of the teenagers who queued up at exam centers on Tuesday for their history and physics exams found themselves rushed to a hospital, after COVID-19 testing on the door revealed them to have symptoms of the infectious virus.

Twelve students and four invigilators attending the thanaweya amma (high school) exams were taken to hospital in Sharqiyah, and 14 students in Monufiya were taken to hospital after displaying COVID-19 symptoms.

A student in Sohag, and another in Kafr al-Sheikh were taken to hospital after developing a fever during their exams, while another student in Gharbiyah was prevented from taking her exam since her brother had tested positive for COVID-19. An invigilator at a Gharbiyah school also asked to be excused after developing a mild fever.

Elsewhere, some students were taken to hospital after being taken ill, though no direct link with COVID-19 was mentioned. Two students in Beheira developed gastric symptoms, while in Qena, three students suffered from low blood pressure and an elevated heart rate. Two were transferred to the hospital while the third was treated in the exam center.

Despite the fact that both thanaweya amma exams and university finals have gone ahead, bringing students to gather in crowds outside exam halls across the country, Higher Education Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar announced on Tuesday that universities will be seeking to keep students away from lecture halls in the next academic year by implementing a distance learning system for non-practical majors. 

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What were officials saying about COVID-19 on Tuesday?

“[The first children's isolation hospital] will enter into service next week” - Dean of Zagazig University  

Head of Zagazig University Dr. Osman Shaalan announced that a children’s isolation hospital will be opened on Sunday. The hospital will have an initial ICU capacity of 47 beds, which will be later increased to 74 beds, as well as 200 regular beds. Shaalan added that this will be the first COVID-19 isolation hospital in Egypt dedicated to treating children. 

Even as the push to increase the hospital space for coronavirus patients appeared to continue on Tuesday, pressure for tighter controls on the market for medical products continued.

MP Fayeqa Faheem called for an increase in inspections on the medical goods market in Sharqiya, describing an expansion in the informal market.  In a request to question the PM and the health minister, Faheem accused the Health Ministry for failing to carry out enough inspections to prevent an increase in the number of goods of “unknown origins and with no proof of purchase.” 

Faheem’s step comes despite news on Monday that the Sharqiya Health Directorate had begun an inspection campaign along with personnel from the Consumer Protection Agency and the supply police to take stock of medical products being sold in the governorate, and had taken out a number of official reports against pharmacies and vendors.

Despite the rigor being applied to the informal sector, the centralized system for supplying hygiene goods through the Unified Procurement Authority appears to have been slow in getting off the ground, with mask deliveries due months after obligatory mask wearing was implemented in Egypt.  

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“The decrease in COVID-19 infections means that Egypt has passed the peak”— Dr. Jihan Al-Assal, Deputy head of the Ministry of Health’s Scientific Committee for Combating COVID-19 

“COVID-19 is under control and we have not yet reached the peak”— Dr. Awad Tag El Din, Presidential Advisor for Health

Has Egypt passed the worst of its coronavirus infection curve?

The number of daily coronavirus infections dipped below 1,000 cases for the first time since May on Monday, though it increased again to register 1,075 on Tuesday.  

In the wake of the slightly suppressed figures, two senior medical officials at the fore of Egypt’s response to the coronavirus appeared to contradict one another on the implications of the daily count on Tuesday.  

Speaking to the DMC satellite channel, Deputy Head of the Scientific Committee for Combating COVID-19 Dr. Gehan al-Assal said that the numbers of infections are promising, and that the decrease means Egypt has surmounted the peak. Yet in comments to Al-Hadath Al-Youm channel on Tuesday Presidential Advisor for Health Dr. Awad Tag Eddin said it is too early as of yet to make such an assessment, adding that infection rates must stabilize for a period of one week to 10 days and then begin declining before anyone can presume that Egypt has passed the peak. 

More than a month into coexistence with the pandemic, official infections reported by the Health Ministry appear to have lulled, at least for some time. After 969 were recorded on Monday, last night the ministry reported 1,075 new infections, a day-to-day increase of over 10%. 

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Coexistence with coronavirus 

Whether or not Egypt is past the peak of its infections, plans to shake the economy back into action continued on Tuesday, despite a setback in attracting German tourists and news of more infections among football players that could make it difficult for the Wadi Degla club to field players when the league resumes next month.  

German tourists could be staying out of Egypt until September, said Saeed al-Batouty, an advisor to the World Tourism Organization, despite the fact that Germany has announced several other countries as safe for its citizens to travel to. Tourism from other countries has picked up some pace since airports opened on July 1 however, with around 4,000 tourists from Ukraine and Belarus arriving into Sharm al-Sheikh and Hurghada.

Six players at the Wadi Degla football club tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, during tests that clubs have carried out prefatory to league games resuming in early August. The Wadi Degla players who have newly tested positive were only caught after a third swab was administered, according to the team’s physician. 

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Who cares for healthcare workers?

Detention orders were renewed on Tuesday for four of the 10 doctors currently in detention for speaking out about Egypt’s response to the coronavirus. 

Following Tuesday’s court orders, Dr. Mohamed Motaz al-Fawal, Dr. Ahmed Sabra, Dr. Alaa Shaban and Dr. Hani Bakr are to remain in remand detention for another 15 days. 

Meanwhile, more details came out from the Doctors Syndicate on the letter they sent to the Public Prosecution regarding the imprisonment of Dr. Ahmed Safwat, a syndicate board member, who was arrested after writing on his personal Facebook page that “The government says that everything is fine and under control, but you enter hospitals and find the opposite.” The syndicate has reportedly pointed to the executive regulations for Law 45/1969 which prohibit punishing doctors for their union activity. 

The Doctors Syndicate confirmed on Tuesday that at least 101 of its members have died of coronavirus since the beginning of the outbreak thus far. Two of the 101 passed away on Tuesday: 

• Dr. Abdel Gawad al-Sayed Saeed, a professor at the National Liver Institute in Monufiya.
• Dr. Mohamed Samy Barghout, a pediatrics professor at Tanta University.