Up to 94 hospitals in Egypt allocated to deal with COVID-19: minister

The number of operational isolation hospitals in Egypt has reached 12 nationwide, and they are equipped with 2,241 beds, 407 intensive care beds, and 346 ventilators, according to the health minister.

Up to 47 fever hospitals and 35 pulmonology hospitals have also been allocated for triage and referral of coronavirus patients, Health Minister Hala Zayed told Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly at a meeting on Friday.

Zayed met with Madbouly to update him on the coronavirus situation, Ahram Online reported.

Egyptian authorities this week extended a two-week night-time curfew for another fortnight.

The country has logged 1,699 positive coronavirus cases so far, of whom 118 have died.

Only a limited percentage of the cases need ICU beds and ventilators, Zayed noted.

All outpatient clinics at the hospitals have been closed and redistributed to primary health care centres, she noted, adding that the reception departments have been restricted to emergency cases only.

The ministry has also trained 150 mental health specialists to provide psychological support to health care workers, patients or members of the public.

Higher Education and Scientific Research Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said during the meeting that the university hospitals that have been dedicated to coronavirus isolation contain 2,056 beds, 297 intensive care beds, 35 medium-care beds, and 266 ventilators.

The capacity of university student accommodation nationwide is 38,589 rooms with 69,070 beds, he also said.

The country decided on Tuesday to transfer mild coronavirus cases, especially patients under 50, to university campuses and student accommodation, under the medical supervision of the health ministry.

The decision to use student accommodation has gone into effect in Cairo, Alexandria, Ain Shams, Assiut, Mansoura, Minya, and Helwan as a first stage, Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar added.