Egypt becomes second African country to pass 100,000 coronavirus cases
London, Sep. 9, 2020 (AltAfrica)-The total number of coronavirus cases recorded in Egypt since the viral outbreak began seven months back has reached 100,041 infections after 178 new cases
The North African country becomes the second African country to pass that figure after South Africa which cases climb to 640 441 with 82 new deaths on Tuesday
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The death toll has reached 5,541 with 11 new fatalities recorded over the last 24 hours, the health ministry announced.
The ministry’s daily bulletin on the pandemic said that 900 patients were discharged from hospitals on Monday, raising the total number of recoveries to 79,008.
The viral disease first surfaced in December in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has since spread to many other countries around the world.
Three months later, Egypt reported the first confirmed case of the novel virus on 14 February, while the first fatality was recorded on 8 March.
According to the official figures, it took 50 days to reach 1,000 cases on 4 April, another 38 days to hit the 10,000 mark on 12 May, and another 16 days to hit 20,000 cases on 28 May.
Throughout March, April, and May, the number of daily cases ranged between 16 and 900.
As of June, the figures started to increase swiftly, moving to 30,000 cases by 5 June and then hitting the 40,000-case mark seven days later on 13 June. Five days later, on 18 June, the country reached 50,000 cases, and seven days later it reached 60,000 cases on 25 June.
The country reached 70,000 cases on 1 July with a noticeable drop recorded in the daily cases despite the fact that many of the contagion-related restrictions were lifted, including canceling the curfew and allowing cafés, cinemas, restaurants, gyms, and many other entertainment venues to reopen.
The country reached 80,000 cases on 10 July, and 90,000 cases on 23 July.
The cases dropped below the 1,000 threshold on 6 July for the first time since April. The daily tally reached the lowest level, recording only 321 cases, at the end of July.
Since early August, the daily toll dropped below 200, registering a record drop in daily reported cases on 22 August with only 89 new infections, the lowest daily tally since April.
However, Egyptian officials have repeatedly urged caution to avoid a second wave of the pandemic, particularly with the advent of autumn and the beginning of the academic year.
The deadly virus has infected a total of 27,433,703 people worldwide, including 895,305 deaths and 19,483,299 recoveries.
