Egypt uses app, drug deliveries to follow up with coronavirus patients at home

Egypt’s Health Ministry is following up with coronavirus patients, who are self-isolated at home through the app Sehet Masr (Health of Egypt), and has been delivering drugs in the virus treatment protocol to the patients’ homes.

The Cabinet said on Friday that Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly had received a report from Health Minister Hala Zayed on home isolation for coronavirus cases, Ahram online reported on Friday.

The ministry has been delivering needed medications to patients at home until they stabilise and test negative.

Preventive medicine officials are responsible for identifying the target groups for home treatment, and pharmacists and nursing staff in hospitals then prepare a bag containing the necessary drugs according to the condition of each case and the suitable treatment protocol.

The bags are delivered through either the preventive medicine heads, or the nursing teams, or rural guides. Officials at local health units are then responsible for following up with the cases and updating the health ministry.

The prime minister lauded the delivery measures, saying that they help curb the spread of the virus by preventing those who have contracted the disease from mixing with people in hospitals, and it helps in relieving the burden on isolation hospitals that are now designated for cases that require medical care only.

The health ministry said in its report that the app has been functioning as a substitute to its phone hotline (105).

Users can report coronavirus cases through the app. The reports are received by the ministry’s operation room which, in turn, contacts the patients.

The app also contains instructions on home isolation procedures as well as guidelines on treatment and prevention for those in contact with patients during their home isolation. It also helps in the follow-up on cases at home by recording daily changes in their condition.

Moreover, the app also contains answers to frequently asked questions as well as the addresses and phone numbers of the nearest hospitals that conduct coronavirus tests, and maps that shows the exact location of these hospitals.