COVID-19 Virus Curve Continues to Rise in Egypt

: Signage of Sinopharm is seen at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) (Reuters)
: Signage of Sinopharm is seen at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) (Reuters)
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COVID-19 Virus Curve Continues to Rise in Egypt

: Signage of Sinopharm is seen at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) (Reuters)
: Signage of Sinopharm is seen at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) (Reuters)

Egypt’s coronavirus curve has continued to rise during the second wave after the number of infections exceeded 500 cases for the first time in several months.

According to the latest report by the Ministry of Health, the country registered 511 new COVID-19 cases and 23 deaths.

The new cases took the total infections in to 122,086, including 105,132 recoveries and 6,943 deaths.

The ministry called on those infected as well as those in isolation to avoid watching news and social media platforms to reduce feelings of anxiety and tension as well as to preserve their mental health.

It said these feelings would affect their body’s immunity. It also urged them to obtain scientific information from medical teams and experts.

Also, Egypt received the second batch of Sinopharm, the coronavirus vaccine developed by the Chinese National Pharmaceutical Group.

Dr. Osama Abdel Hay, secretary-general of the Egyptian Doctors Syndicates, said the vaccine stimulates the body’s immune system to fight the virus and produce antibodies, affirming that it is safe.

The government said on Tuesday that it had addressed the pandemic through two parallel paths.

In the first, it took preventive measures to protect citizens and provide them with the necessary medical care. While the second targeted economic and social recovery from the repercussions of the pandemic.

The steps taken helped Egypt to face the challenges resulting from the crisis, the top of which are those related to labor markets, especially unemployment, it explained in a statement.



Palestinians Get Food Aid in Central Gaza, Some for the First Time in Months

Donated flour is distributed to Palestinians at a UNRWA center in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP)
Donated flour is distributed to Palestinians at a UNRWA center in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP)
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Palestinians Get Food Aid in Central Gaza, Some for the First Time in Months

Donated flour is distributed to Palestinians at a UNRWA center in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP)
Donated flour is distributed to Palestinians at a UNRWA center in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. (AP)

Palestinians lined up for bags of flour distributed by the UN in central Gaza on Tuesday morning, some of them for the first time in months amid a drop in food aid entering the territory.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, gave out one 25-kilogram flour bag (55 pounds) to each family of 10 at a warehouse in the Nuseirat refugee camp, as well as further south in the city of Khan Younis.

Jalal al-Shaer, among the dozens receiving flour at the Nuseirat warehouse, said the bag would last his family of 12 for only two or three days.

“The situation for us is very difficult,” said another man in line, Hammad Moawad. “There is no flour, there is no food, prices are high ... We eat bread crumbs.” He said his family hadn’t received a flour allotment in five or six months.

COGAT, the Israeli army body in charge of humanitarian affairs, said it facilitated entry of a shipment of 600 tons of flour on Sunday for the World Food Program. Still, the amount of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza since the beginning of October has been at nearly the lowest levels of the 15-month-old war.

UNRWA’s senior emergency officer Louise Wateridge told The Associated Press that the flour bags being distributed Tuesday were not enough.

“People are getting one bag of flour between an entire family and there is no certainty when they’ll receive the next food,” she said.

Wateridge added that UNRWA has been struggling like other humanitarian agencies to provide much needed supplies across the Gaza Strip. The agency this week announced it was stopping delivering aid entering through the main crossing from Israel, Kerem Shalom, because its convoys were being robbed by gangs. UNRWA has blamed Israel in large part for the spread of lawlessness in Gaza.

The International Criminal Court is seeking to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over accusations of using “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel rejects the allegations and says it has been working hard to improve entry of aid.