Egypt reported 2,223 COVID-19 infections on Monday, a slight increase in cases over Sunday's figures, setting another record high for the seventh day in a row, as the country continues to battle the pandemic.
This brings the total number of reported coronavirus cases in the country up to 425,911 since the outbreak of the pandemic in February 2020, according to the Ministry of Health and Population’s daily update.
The ministry also reported 31 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total deaths nationwide to 22,635. It added that 1,891 patients have been discharged from hospitals following recovery, bringing the total number of recoveries to 358,165.
The spike in infections came as Egypt continues to push with efforts to expand its vaccination campaign.
Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar, the health ministry's spokesperson, said that around 42 percent of the targeted groups have been vaccinated, adding that the ministry hopes to vaccinate 70 percent of the population by the second half of 2022.
Egypt has administered a total of 37.2 million first vaccine doses and 26 million second doses since the start of the mass vaccination campaign in January of 2021, according to the health ministry’s daily statistics.
Source: Al-Ahram Online
