A stewardess distributes face masks to passengers on an airplane from Cairo to Hurghada, Egypt, on June 18, 2020. Egypt reported on Thursday 1,218 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total cases registered in the country since mid-February to 50,437, said Egyptian Health Ministry. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)
CAIRO, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Egypt reported on Thursday 1,218 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total cases registered in the country since mid-February to 50,437, said Egyptian Health Ministry.
It's the third consecutive day for a decline in daily infections in Egypt after a record of 1,691 cases was seen on June 15.
Meanwhile, 88 COVID-19 patients died from the novel coronavirus on Thursday, raising the death toll to 1,938, Egyptian Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement.
He added that 387 patients were completely cured and discharged from hospitals on the same day, increasing the total recoveries in the country to 13,528.
"All the cases registered as positive for the virus receive medical care at isolation and quarantine hospitals in accordance with the guidelines of the World Health Organization," Megahed reiterated.
He noted that the capital Cairo and the nearby provinces of Giza and Qalioubiya reported the highest numbers of COVID-19 infections in Egypt, unlike the provinces of the Red Sea, Matrouh and South Sinai that saw the lowest.
Egypt announced its first confirmed COVID-19 case on Feb. 14 and the first death from the respiratory disease on March 8, both of whom were foreigners.
Since March 25, the Egyptian government has been imposing a nighttime curfew as a key precautionary measure in combating the highly infectious virus.
The current eight-hour curfew in Egypt will continue until the end of the month, amid the government's "coexistence plan" to maintain anti-coronavirus precautionary measures while resuming economic activities.
Egypt plans to resume air traffic in all Egyptian airports from July 1 as the country prepares for the return of foreign tourism, after more than three months of international flight suspension over coronavirus concerns.
The most populous Arab country has already started gradual reopening of services and offices, and allowed operation of over 230 hotels for local tourists with 50-percent capacity after they were given official hygiene safety certificates.
Egypt and China have been cooperating closely in fighting the pandemic through exchanging medical aid and expertise.
In early February, Egypt provided aid to China to help with its fight against COVID-19 and China later returned favor by sending three batches of medical aid to the North African country, the latest of which was in mid-May.
Since mid-April, Chinese doctors and medical experts have held three video conferences with Egyptian counterparts to share their experience in the prevention and treatment of the novel coronavirus. Enditem
