Egypt records 178 new coronavirus cases, 17 deaths on Sunday

Egypt reported 178 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the health ministry announced in a statement, bringing the total number of confirmed infections nationwide to 95,492 cases since the detection of the first case in February.

The country has now registered less than 200 new cases a day for eight days in a row.

Egypt’s daily toll of new cases dropped below the 200-case threshold for the first time since April on 2 August, with the daily toll hovering between 110 and 178 cases.

The ministry said in the statement that it had recorded 17 new deaths on Sunday, bringing the total number of fatalities from the respiratory virus to 5,009.

Figures from the ministry’s daily bulletin showed 1,006 recovered patients have been discharged over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 52,678.

The decline in infections and deaths comes despite the relaxing of precautionary measures in recent months.

Since late June, Egypt has been phasing out some of the anti-virus restrictions, including lifting a nighttime curfew, reopening restaurants and resuming regular international flights.

However, the government warned last month that it may reinstate measures if the infection rate spikes.

On Sunday, the health ministry urged citizens to strictly adhere to preventive measures in anticipation of a rise in coronavirus cases, especially with the increased gatherings that took place during this month’s Eid Al-Adha holiday.